Live Today, Die Forever
by MewStar0013
Summary: He wants to move forward. But then again, he wants to end it all. It will only take one shot, and his whole life will be over. He is given a choice. To move forward, and live. Or to deny death, and cease to exist. When Shiro pointed the gun to his head, he expected the realm of death, not the path to live. Well, it's his choice. After all, time is fleeting. P3P.
1. Chapter 1

_**Live Today, Die Forever**_

_**I know, I'm going to kick myself later for creating a new story with other stories I need to fulfill, but I just could not let this go! It was beating at the back of my skull after playing non-stop on **_**Persona 3 Portable**_**, only a few days after I downloaded it on my PSVita (Can you believe it?) I'm gonna try to keep this fic under a minimum of fifty chapters. If not then *shrugs* Ah well. **_

_**Also, the events that take place after the prologue are a rough ten years (Twenty-six after the events of **_**Persona 3 Portable**_**).**_

_**The character sheet is on the bottom and it's waiting for you guys, as well as Shiro as he moves on in his journey! Alright, I've talked long enough. Please, enjoy the prologue!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Persona 3 Portable **_**or anything else **_**Persona **_**related. I'm only lucky enough to have downloaded the game.**_

* * *

_**~Prologue: Carpe Diem, Memento Mori~**_

_He was tired. He would admit that. After all, he was carrying a kid over his shoulder, and a box under his other arm. His overcoat was heavy and thick and all his hair was pulled under his hat and hood. A scarf covered the lower-portion of his mouth, and his listless eyes were drooping with exhaustion. He would admit that all of this was making him tired._

_But it didn't make him weak. He would __**never **__admit that he was weak. _

"_Mn? What's. . . what's going on?" The kid on his arm stirred, and a pair of monochromatic blinked owlishly. The left was a steel-grey color, the right was a maroon-red. His tiny head lifted from the man's shoulder, and he looked around the long and huge room. The walls were made of metal, and slightly cushioned seats lined up together with an aisle between them. And from the steady yet unsettling rocking, the boy presumed they were on a train or subway._

"_Hah, so you're finally awake, huh?" Asked the man, smiling roughly with his eyes crinkled. The boy sniffed slightly, and he let out a sneeze. He shivered, soon realizing that his rain coat was soaked and he was chilled to the bone._

"_Got a cold? Sorry, I should have gotten us some tickets sooner. I wanted her to see you healthy and happy." said the man. He moved the kid to sit on his lap and he pulled the kid's hood off, revealing a slightly tan and cherubic face with ruddy cheeks. He smiled at the innocent and sleepy expression the child had, and he stroked the kid's sardonic-auburn hair._

"_Who's 'she'?"_

_A lump was in the man's throat, yet he forced a smile on his face._

"_Your mother, of course."_

_The train suddenly pulled to a stop, and static rang into the PA system of the train._

_***Now arriving at the last stop. Masoa Inuba. This will be the final stop. Repeat, now arriving at the last stop. Masoa Inuba. This will be the final stop.***_

_Nodding to himself, the hooded man hiked the child over his shoulder once again, and he carefully slipped a green duffel bag over his other shoulder before grabbing the cardboard box he had. The child wrapped his arms around the man's neck and his hood fell upon his head again. Laughing quietly to the boy's fatigued, the man walked carefully out of the lightly crowded train. With the usually, over-populated area a little empty, the man walked around, his eyes searching for someone. He stopped when a familiar head of orange-brown, short hair caught his attention, and he could see a woman standing by the door._

"_Good to see you've made it." he said casually with an icy-touch in his tone. The woman looked up, her light brown eyes surprised yet worried._

"_W-When you called, I just knew I had to come. Seeing that-" she stopped when she saw the little boy, her head tilted, "That's. . . him, isn't it?" she asked quietly. The man nodded, and he shook the child a little._

"_Shiro. Shiro, wake up." he said quietly. The boy, now called Shiro, gave a small mumble, before lifting his head and blinking tiredly, "You're still tired? Do you wanna sleep some more?"_

_Shiro shook his head, before he turned it and looked at the woman. Cocking his head, his hood falling off again and his hair sticking up a bit, his mouth set on a small line._

"_Are you my mommy?"_

_The woman flinched, and her eyes cast to the man's. The man's dark eyes narrowed, an emotionless frown on his lips, and a small nod of his head gave her the OK. Taking a breath, she tried to smile kindly at Shiro._

"_Y-Yes. I'm. . . I'm your mommy." she whispered hesitantly. Shiro blinked, before smiling happily with scrunched eyes._

"_Mommy~" he whispered joyously, a giggle shaking his small frame. The woman smiled back but it faded when she saw that the man holding Shiro had his head looking at the ground, eyes clouding with an unrecognizable sign. The man suddenly put the child down, turning him and crouching to his eye level._

"_Shiro, you're going to be staying with your mommy for a while. We must part ways for now." He whispered. Shiro's smile dropped, and his eyes began turning misty._

"_B-But. . . But why? Don't you. . . Like having me around?" he asked, his tiny hand catching the man's wrist. The small fingers barely looped around his wrist, and Shiro could feel the cold skin and dull heart rate of the man._

"_I do," assured the man, his free hand patting the child's grayish-auburn hair. He gave a half smile, though it was bared onto his lips, and it hurt him on the inside, "But right now. . . Just now's a time I have to go away for a while. And. . . I can't take you with me this time. This is why. . ." his breath hid in his throat, and a deep pang of emotion stung his heart, "This is why I'm leaving you with your. . . Your mother."_

_Shiro began to shake, and before the man could pull away, the tiny boy ran into him, little arms around his neck along with a small face buried into his chest. A sob wracked on, and the man felt pity for the child._

"_N-No! I don't want you to go! Y-Y-You can't just leave-leave me with-with her! She-She may be my-my mommy but-but!" A wail bellowed from the mismatched-eyed child, tears and mucus staining his face, "I c-can't live with-without you! Y-You're the most important piece!" His wails did not cease, "Don't leave me, daddy, please!"_

_The woman wanted to speak, to hold the child as he cried and sobbed. She didn't blame him for acting this way. Any child would cry if they went through the life that Shiro had lived. And since she knew how the man acted, she'd doubt that he would do a thing to stop the tears. She was surprised to see the man suddenly cradle Shiro in his arms, his large hand patting the boy's back, murmuring something into his ear._

"_Shhh, shhh. Shiro, calm down. Yes, I'm leaving. But that doesn't mean I won't come back. Did I ever say that?" asked the man softly, rocking the child. After a few minutes, Shiro gave a small sniffle before wiping his face with the sleeves of his coat. He shook his head with sadly hooded eyes._

"_N-No. No, you didn't." he sniffled. The man harrumphed with a crocked smile and he set Shiro down, bringing up the box he had._

"_Hey, you want your present now?" he asked._

"_A present?" asked Shiro, eying the box that was big enough to hold a top hat. It was only decorated with a green bow and marker sprawled words read, __**"To Shiro"**__._

"_Yeah, for you kid. What, did you forget that you it's your birthday? It's already midnight." joked Shiro's father lightly. He pushed the box to the small child, "Well, open it. It's not everyday you turn six, yeah?"_

_Shiro walked over to the box, timidly tapping it. He jumped back when the box suddenly shook and he puffed out his cheeks embarrassingly. Nodding to himself, Shiro lifted the box and yelped when something jumped on him._

_A slobbery and slippery pink tongue licked at his face and a tiny tail thumped on his stomach. Sitting up, Shiro squealed happily as he hugged the four-legged creature._

"_Puppy~!" he cried happily, the tri-colored, Bernese Mountain puppy licking eagerly at his face._

"_I figured you two would get along," chuckled Shiro's father, helping Shiro up and tying something around the squirming puppy's neck. Shiro saw it was a red collar with a silver bell and a gold-colored license._

"_Zero?" he asked, watching the puppy yip at the name._

"_Yeah. He's has no past, but I'm sure you can give him a future. Think you can do that?" asked his father. Shiro nodded, smiling confidently._

"_Yeah, I'll give him a future, daddy!" he swore._

"_Good. And since you seem this confident, I got something else for you." Said his father, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out something attached to a thick, silver-threaded chain. Shiro awed at the small pendant that looked made of gold. Between two of the upper and lower caps of the pendant were a series of braces that turn and span in different directions. The hourglass in the middle of it was connected, spinning and flipping in all sorts of directions, the sand in it either half-full or half-empty in either glass bulbs._

"_For me?" whispered Shiro, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets with his mouth gaping. Chuckling lightly at the expression, Shiro's father looped the pendant around his son's neck, taking the hourglass carefully in his hands._

"_Yeah. Hey, do you know what this says?" he asked, pointing to the small inscription on the top cap. Shiro squinted at the words._

"_Car-Caru Cara. . . Um, Deem, um. . ."_

"_Carpe Diem," explained his father, turning over to the bottom cap, "And these words?"_

"_Um. . . Moment. . . M-Moment Mooree?" asked Shiro, his father holding back his laughter._

"_Memento Mori." chuckled the hooded-man. _

"_What do they mean, daddy?" asked Shiro, hourglass in one hand, Zero held to his side by the other._

"_They're Latin. The first means, "To seize the day." The other means, "Never deny death." Together, they both mean, "Always live and embrace to the future, but never deny or refuse death ."" said his father logically, watching Shiro flip and spin the braced hourglass._

"_Daddy, why are they written here?" asked Shiro, looking at his father with curious, light and dark eyes. With passionate and undying emotion, his father pulled him into a tight embrace, his nose burying into his mop of dull yet vibrate-colored hair._

"_I had them written there so that way. . . You could live. Shiro. . . I love you. You are my son, and I care so much for you. I don't want you to be sad, and I don't want you to be lonely, or have any regrets. I've suffered them too much of them already." He shut his eyes and hugged the boy tighter, his throat dry and his eyes beginning to prickle. He would not cry. He was not weak. He would __**never **__show weakness, "So, I want you to be a good boy. Listen to y-your. . . Your mother. And I when I come back, I want to see you alive. I want to see you as a great man. I want. . . To be proud, to have the honor of calling you my son, and to be known as your father."_

_Shiro nodded, despite the tears flooding into his eyes._

"_Are you tired?"_

_Shiro nodded again._

"_Then you should sleep. You'll get more sick if you don't." whispered the man. Shiro bit the inside of his cheek, and he shut his eyes._

"_See you. . . Later. . . Daddy. . ." Shiro's breathing went slow, and the man pulled him back slightly, seeing the child's head lull to the side, his eyes shut and his mind went off in dreamland. Zero licked at his owner's face but he wiggled around as Shiro's father picked up him and Shiro, and he walked over to the woman._

"_Thanks for doing this, Yukari." mumbled the man, handing over the sleeping child and moving puppy, along with the duffel bag._

"_How. . . How did he just fall asleep like that?" Asked the retired member of __**SEES**__, speaking quietly so the child would not wake. The man looked down, his expression pulled in pain._

"_It's. . . It's my fault. He. . . He has narcolepsy. It's-It's just my fault. Heh," he gave a bitter smile, eyes narrowed and shoulders hunched, "I screwed up. My life's fucked up." Shaking his head, the man looked at Yukari with a more serious expression, "You better take good care of him. He's a good kid, and I really do want him to live." he muttered._

"_Where do you plan on going? And why are you just leaving him?" asked Yukari pleadingly, Shiro still held to her. The man sighed. He was tired. He felt sad. But he didn't want to show it._

"_I'll let you more in on it later. I'll send letters, but discreetly. I don't won't him to find out. I don't want him to be apart of any of this," He briefly patted his son's head, the latter unconsciously mewing at the gesture of affection, "Like I said, he's a good kid. And I don't want him to go with what I've went through. Not anymore," He shrugged his shoulders a bit, "Well. . . Take care. The both of you."_

_He turned, shoulders slumped with his chin held straight, and he made his move to wait for the next train._

"_Shinjiro."_

_He stopped, not turning to Yukari, but still knowing she had something to say._

"_Shinjiro."_

"_I heard you the first time. What?" he growled. Yukari could not see it, but she knew that his eyes were flashing angrily._

"_It's. . . You-know-what, isn't it? You're just not telling my since you want to take it on your own. Am I right?" asked the woman, he own eyes narrowed. Shinjiro scoffed, hands stuffed in his pockets._

"_You were listening to what I told Shiro, right? "Always live and embrace to the future, but never deny or refuse death ." Isn't it about time you do that?" he asked with dry expectancy._

"_I can. But doesn't this apply to you, too?" Hissed the brown-haired woman. Shinjiro shrugged, hands fisted in his pockets and steel-grey eyes closed._

"_Maybe, maybe not. I'll see if I can find the answer to that some other time," he took a few more steps forward, before he stopped and turned his head and torso, glaring at Shiro's now-caretaker, "Until then. . . Shiro and I have nothing do to with each other. He's not a part of my life, as of now. . . And I am not a part of his." He turned again, and walked inside the next terminal._

_Yukari, tired and near a state of hysterics, looked at the sleeping Shiro and Zero, and she kissed the top of the boy's head._

"_You really must be a good child, if someone like him cares for you as much. I was shocked when he told me to take care of you, since I've never heard of you in my life," She held Shiro tighter, tears rimming her eyes, "He must. . . Love you as much as he loved her. I bet you'll be just as good as her, Shiro."_

* * *

**T0 B3 C0NT1NUD3D**

_**Well, that's what's going on now. A little (or a lot), or Shiro's past has been revealed, and the plot of the whole story is going to move on along in the next chapter. Sorry if Shinjiro OCC, but it is revealed on the FMC of the game that he has a good and caring side. He just doesn't like to show it. Hope I did alright since I've just gotten into and played **_**Persona 3 Portable. **_**  
**_

**The OC sheet is already closed.  
**

* * *

_**Now, it's time to find out what's gonna go on next!**_

_**Shiro: Next time, on **_**Live Today, Die Forever:**

_"Hello, and welcome to Tatsumi Port Island."_

_"This place really is different from Inuba. And it's the first time I've ever been away from home, too."_

* * *

_"You think he might have the potential?"_

_"It's possible. But then again, he is **their **son."_

* * *

_"After all this time, you finally decided to show your face again! I thought you said your lives weren't crossed anymore!"_

_"Well you didn't get me the chance to say that I would come back for him!"_

* * *

_"What the- there's something on the roof! It's-wait, it's a person! With a gun! Wait, it's- Shiro, NO!"_

_"I-I have to do this! I want it all to end! Right now!"_

_"What-what is this. . . This feeling?"_

_**Shiro: Coming up, Episode One: Time to Wake Up!**_

_"I am thou."_

* * *

_** See you all on the next chapter!**_

_**This is me saying, Peace!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Oh~ I'm so glad that I've gotten so much positive feedback with such equally positive and down-right amazing characters! All of them look very cool and I'm very impressed with how everyone created their OCs! I'm just surprised that a lot of you guys out there went out for the Death Arcana (You know who you people are, LOL) And also, I may have had to change a few Arcana due to some having more than one. But no worries, every character submitted earned a spot! But either way, thanks so much! All of you have helped me so much! Now, to start this off, let me feature who will be in this fic~!**_

_**Shiro Takeba (Aragaki)- Owned by myself! Arcana: Fool**_

_**Taiga Sagara- Owned by **_**der kapitan. **_**Arcana: Moon**_

_**Rai Shinguji- Owned by **_**Mzr90. **_**Arcana: Emperor**_

_**Takato Akatsuki- Owned by **_**Chaoslord680. **_**Arcana: Chariot**_

_**T.C Goto- Owned by **_**a-Goto. **_**Arcana: Sword (Better known as King of Swords)**_

_**Jecht Meguro- Owned by **_**GoldenandSilver. **_**Arcana: Sun**_

_**Miranda Amell- Owned by **_**Izanagi. **_**Arcana: Priestess**_

_**Kaguya Hiroka- Owned by **_**KO. **_**Arcana: Pierrot**_

_**Cecilia D'Entropie- Owned by **_**BlackenedOrchid. **_**Arcana: Empress**_

_**Yume Shirayuki- Owned by **_**Sennin. **_**Arcana: Lovers**_

_**Kanbei Tokugawa- Owned by **_**Phil The Persona Guy. **_**Arcana: Death**_

_**Sebastian Lawson (Chernov)- Owned by **_**AstraFlare. **_**Arcana: Hanged Man**_

_**Sarah Cousland- Owned by **_**King of hearts. **_**Arcana: Strength**_

_**Ryuuji Luricaso- Owned by **_**Darkhaso90. **_**Arcana: Devil**_

_**Seymour Laurent- Owned by **_**Torataro. **_**Arcana: Fortune **_

_**Sora Dunois- Owned by **_**DeathOverLord. **_**Arcana: Hierophant**_

_**Shuma Inoue- Owned by **_**LilSweetMocha. **_**Arcana: Hermit**_

_**Lukarya Andrews- Owned by **_**Windraider. **_**Arcana: Aeon**_

_**Sakaki Leonhardt- Owned by **_**BladeoftheEclipse. **_**Arcana: Judgment**_

_**Kurai Matsuda- Owned by **_**Atomic Slayer Ver.2.0 Omega. **_**Arcana: Magician**_

_**Yukino "Yuki" Hime- Owned by **_**ViperMT. **_**Arcana: Star**_

_**And, done! Whew, what a list, ne? I have the World, Temperance, and Omen Arcana reserved, so that completes the whole OC list. Please, do not send any more. We have enough already. Thanks again! All of these characters are super and simply amazing!**_

_**I've got a drawing of Shiro, Zero, and Osiris done, too! If you guys wanna see it, head over to my FanFiction profile page and use the link to my DeviantART. Shiro's pic should be the newest in the gallery and the pic also happens to be the cover of the story~!**_

_**And also, just like my original **_**Persona 4 **_**fic, I will show you all the opening that goes along with it, just like **_**Persona 4: The Animation**_**. The song is titled "**_**Hikari no Yukue" **_**(The Light's Whereabouts) by Savage Genius, which I own nothing of. Please, do enjoy.**_

* * *

_***As a small chorus sings, a white full moon and night sky is hidden behind Gekkoukan High School. The tune of a violin is heard with a Spanish-guitar appeal and a figure is shown, playing the violin with skill. The sky and moon suddenly turn an eerie green and the school is suddenly turned into Tartarus. Doves by the thousands wipe over the screen and the opening title is presented***_

_~Yaketsuku hizashi no moto,_

_Kimi wa nani omou?_

_Urei no hitomi wa ima,_

_Nani o utsusu?~_

_***Shiro stands in a empty black space with Zero sitting by his feet. As his glasses slip to the bump of his nose, Zero places Shiro's evoker he has in his mouth in his hand and Shiro pats his head. He fingers the barrel of the gun before he sighs and points it to his head. His glasses slip off***_

_~Umareta yorokobi sae, _

_Kumoridasu sekai de,_

_Deaeta kiseki dake wa, _

_Wasurenaide~_

_***A close-up on his glasses are shown, and in the reflection is a six-year-old Shiro. He looks in his hand and he holds his hourglass pendant. As it spins, a distraught and regretful-looking Shinjiro stands next to him, ruffling his hair before walking away. The younger Shiro widens his eyes, turning and chasing, after the man. Just as he touches the man's hand, the latter turns into a crystalline-figure before breaking and turning into many shards. As they blow on his face, little Shiro begins to silently cry***_

_~Mayowazu ni irareru no nara,_

_Step by step tayasui darou,_

_Kaze no you ni~_

_***An older Shiro is now walking in along the streets of Tatsumi Port-Island, Zero attached to a harness with the both of them laughing. A light shines on Shiro's eyes and he's in the dark space again, the Velvet Key held in his hand. He spots the door to the Velvet Room and the doors open before him***_

_~Ikusen no namida o koe akatsuki no kouya o yuku,_

_Itsuka kizu wa ieru kara. . .Saa. . ._

_Trust myself~_

_~Don't be afraid,_

_Kawaru koto wa osoreru koto ja nai,_

_Kimi ga kimi de aru naraba._

_Will be with you.~_

_***A mighty wind blows and his eyes squint as Igor and two male twins with blonde hair and gold eyes appear. The twins smile and bow politely while Igor grins and tosses several tarot cards. The cards sweep around Shiro like a typhoon and they all blow off and form a blue orb, one tarot card remaining in Shiro's hand. With a determined look, Shiro tosses the card at the typhoon and it forms into Osiris. Red eyes meet mismatched eyes and the two nod as Shiro pulls out his evoker, holding it up with both pointer fingers on the trigger. He looks up with a fiery glare as the ground begins to shake. Tartarus appears and with the shadow of the tower looming over him, Shiro runs forward with Zero on one side and Osiris on the other***_

_~Odayaka na hi o yumemite. . . _

_Michinaki tabiji wa tsuzuku~_

_***As he takes a leap, Shiro whips out his scythe and he lashes out at an unknown enemy, the screen wiping back to the violin player, who is revealed to be Sebastian. Looking once, he turns his back with a curled lip and continues to play his violin as millions of doves fly into the air, Shiro looking from below with white feathers raining upon him, tears rolling down his cheeks***_

_~Kawaita daichi wo keri netsu wo tokihanate,_

_Sadame wa kirisakeba ii kokoro no mama~_

_***Shiro sits on the steps to the dorm, writing some down. Sarah, Cecilia, and Taiga look over his shoulders and hug him from behind, Shiro jumping and laughing with the three as he stumbles back. He trips over a sleeping T. C, who glares at him before rolling his eyes and going back to sleep, Kanbei standing by and pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes rolling, too. As Shiro regains he balance, both Rai and Jecht run pass him laughing, Shiro watching them with a smile***_

_~Harewataru sora ga konna ni mo,_

_Day by day utsukushii no wa,_

_Yami wo shiru kara~ _

_***Takato is show having a game of bloody knuckles against Sora, the both of them refusing to lose. Seymour and Yume watch them, Yume shaking her head and crossing her arms with Seymour laughing yet still worrying about the two. The scene wipes over to Kaguya on the fourth floor of the dorm, writing down something while Miranda, Yuki, and Lukarya watching him curiously. It then draws to Zero sleeping with a white kitten on his head, the smaller animal trying to wake up the sleeping pooch***_

_~Ikusen no namida wo koe,_

_Soukyuu no kouya wo yuku, Samayou kinou ni shuumaku wo sou. . . _

_Ray of light. _

_Subete wo aisuru ni wa,_

_Amari ni mikanseisugite, Mogaku koto mo naku tachitsukusu,_

_'Sometimes wanna cry. . .~_

_***The Dark Hour strikes and Shuma gazes off from the top window, Kurai walking to the control panel of the room before powering the Shadow alarm. From down below, Sakaki cocks his brow at a shroud of Shadows surrounding him before he whips out his evoker and shoots himself, summoning his Persona. Rai, Sarah, and Kanbei come from behind and they shoot themselves, summoning their own Personas. As everyone else is following them in suit, the original members of SEES appear from atop of the dorm roof with their own Personas. As everyone rages in battle, Shinjiro is seen in the shadows, his eyes narrowing as the screen focuses on his pocket watch with a reflection on Shiro, the latter staring at him with curious eyes. When Shiro makes a step to get closer to him, Shinjiro turns and bats one hand behind him, disappearing in a flash of light. Shiro's wrist is suddenly captured by the tail of a whip and he pulled back***_

_~Itoshiki hikari no yukue~_

_***Grabbed by the waist, Shiro looks and meets Ryuuji's mixed-colored eyes. With hooded eyes and his hand on Shiro's chin, Ryuuji closes in on Shiro's face with his eyes closing, Shiro looking shocked yet dolce. Sweeping black feathers surround them before their lips meet and black ravens wipe across the screen.***_

_***As the chorus sings again, Shiro is now seen falling down in the black, empty void, watching with sad eyes as he the rest of team fall off with him. One by one, everyone else is turned into white feathers and they all twirl around Shiro, the boy gathering them in his hands and closing his eyes as his pendant spins and bright light shines***_

_~Yorokobi no shirabe arasoi no nageki,_

_Kanashiki kana futatsu de hitotsu,_

_Sore demo aa. . . _

_Inochi wa tsuzuku no~_

_***As the second team of SEES move ito a new area, Shiro spots something and he walks into a room glowing a bright blue. In two, large caskets, he can see two bodies dressed in white. He looks to the woman of the two, touches his face, and jumps when a hand touches his own. He looks to his side and catches his father's hard gaze. Before he could speak, Shinjiro disappears and Shiro is suddenly chained by the ankles and he's now in a church that has the interior of the Velvet Room***_

_~Ikusen no namida wo koe omoi wa kouya wo yuku,_

_Itsuka kizu wa ieru kara saa. . ._

_Trust myself~_

_***Shiro now sits at the alter of the church, ankles chained and himself dressed in a white robe with his hair undone, smiling sadly as he watches his younger-self run off with his father, Zero as a puppy, and a red-brown-haired woman. The moon shines light through the window and Shiro holds out his hands and forms a dove made out of the blue moonlight. He pets it before it flies off and Shiro stands just as his shadow is replaced by Shinjio's, the shadow ready to pull the trigger on his evoker. A close-up is done on Shiro's eyes as they both glow blue***_

_~Subete wo aisuru ni wa amari ni mikansei dakedo,_

_Kimi ga kimi de aru naraba,_

_Will be with you. _

_Itoshiki hikari yume mite harukana tabiji wa tsuzuku ~_

_***As Tartarus appears, Taiga, Rai, Jecht, Takato, Kaguya, Cecilia, Yume, Kanbei, Miranda, and Sebastian are seen running to it on one side, while Ryuuji, Sarah, Yuki, Sora, Kurai, Sakaki, Shuma, Seymour, and Lukarya coming from the other side, all of them reaching the gates. At the top of Tartarus, Shiro is seen being led by Heru, the younger with his sadden grin just as two apparitions of Shinjiro and the unknown woman walk past him. Shiro tries to reach to them but Heru leads him on into a light. At the last moments, a close up is done on Shiro's lips, the two turning into a sadden smile with tears rolling down. As the violin music plays, various wipes of everyone's faces are shown before white feathers swoop in and Shiro's pendant spins on it's on before dropping and creating a small spark of light, the screen fading into black***_

_**Whew! That was long! Now on with the story, I say! Lets get this chapter rolling!**_

_**Disclaimer: Anything from **_**Persona **_**does not belong to me, sadly enough.**_

* * *

_**~Chapter One: Time to Wake Up!~**_

_**(Day One. April 1**__**st**__**. 3:00 PM. Moon phase: Full)**_

_**~ Shiro's Status~**_

_**Intelligence: Average**_

_**Charm: Adequate **_

_**Bravery: Timid**_

_**Understanding: Minimum**_

* * *

_*I am thou. . .*_

Gasping and wheezing, the sixteen-year-old with dull-hazel-colored hair clutched his head suddenly, gritting his teeth as his head began to throb.

"Shiro?"

_Thou art I. . .*_

"Shiro! Shiro, what's wrong?"

Snapping his heterochromatic eyes open, Shiro Takeba took a few deep breaths before he felt a hand shaking his shoulder.

"Shiro, are you alright?" Looking to his side, he stared at Yukari Takeba, his caretaker, and he gave a sheepish smile.

"Y-Yes. I guess I just had a little, er. . . Train lag?" he reasoned, laughing at his own weak joke. Yukari looked over the long-haired, well-dressed young man before smiling herself.

"Well, as long as you're OK." She agreed. Nodding, Shiro picked up the book he dropped on the floor, and he flipped it to the cover, the book being, _'Oliver Twist.' _Even if it was a rather difficult book, he still liked to read it. Reading about a young boy who never knew his parents, going through a difficult life, yet at the end, he finds ultimate happiness.

Sighing and smiling, Shiro's eyes caught sight of a man-made island just past the many buildings of Iwatodai City. Besides the giant buildings with many stories, he could also see crowning sakura trees that were coming into full-bloom, the sky creating the perfect real-life painting.

"Okaasan, is that Gekkoukan High?" he asked, pointing out the window. Yukari nodded, smiling fondly.

"Yes, it really looks nice during the day time." she commented.

"What, it doesn't look nice during nighttime?" Joked Shiro, watching as the train passed by and moved onto more taller buildings. His caretaker went quiet, and the young man looked at her, noticing that she was biting her lip, "Okaasan?"

Yukari shook her head and forced a smile on her lips, "Ah, what? Sorry, I was just thinking about. . . Something else. Oh look, we're at the station already." she said, just as the train pulled into a dark tunnel and came out into a busy station.

_***Now arriving at the last stop. Iwatodai, Tatsumi Port Island. This will be the final stop. To all you new comers, hello, and welcome to Tatsumi Port Island.***_

Once the train pulled to a stop, the two picked up their carry-ons and they walked off the train, now searching for the rest of their luggage.

"H-Hey, get back here! Look out! This crazy mutt's off it's leash!"

Several people yelled and let out curses as something _big _tore past them, wild snuffs and barks being let out by the being. Stopping, Shiro let out a laugh and he crouched slightly, slapping both his thighs.

"Zero! Come here, boy!" he called, placing both his pinkies in his mouth and creating a loud whistle. There was a loud yip and a blur of black, brown, and white tackled the high school student.

"Someone, help that boy! He's being mauled by a bear!"

"Call 9-1-1!"

"Call animal control!"

"Ha-ha-ha! Please, ev-everyone- st-stop, Zero, I-m gl-gla-ha-ha-ha! -Glad to see you, b-buddy!" Laughing as the bear of a dog licked at his face, Shiro managed to have the gaint Bernese Mountain dog sit on his lap, patting his head with his glasses hanging off his nose awkwardly, "It's alright, everyone. It's only my dog. Please, go back to your everyday lives."

Either relived or bored that the commotion was nothing serious, people went back to walking and Yukari came out of the crowd with their luggage and a few luggage men along with her.

"I-I'm sorry, young man. Your dog bounded out of his cage before we could slip on a leash." apologized one of the men. Fixing his glasses to balance on the bridge of his nose, Shiro sat on his knees and wrapped his arms around Zero's neck, pressing his cheek against his dog's neck.

"It's fine. Zero just hates it when we're separated for too long. We just came from Inuba and the ride was very long. Guess he wanted to see me really quick. That, and this guy hates regular leashes. Ain't that right, Zero?" he asked, scratching the dog behind the ears. Zero nuzzled into his master's hand and he gave a small whine. Chuckling, Shiro pulled off his duffle bag and unzipped it, pulling out a red dog harness and leash. Zero snuffled happily as he helped Shiro slip the harness on him and attach the leash.

"A-Ah, I see," stuttered the luggage man, though still looking very afraid of the large dog, "Well, your cab is waiting for you two. Madam, we'll take your belongings." he said to Yukari, he and the other men already at work. Once all of them were ready, Shiro, Zero, and Yukari, followed the men out of the station and to their waiting taxi. Once all packed and seated, the yellow car was off.

"Alright, Shiro. Once we drop you off at the dorm, be sure to call me as soon as you can, presumably after dinner. Are you sure you have everything?" asked Yukari. Shiro nodded as Zero rested his furry head on his lap.

"Yes, Okaasan, "He took a small look outside the window, "This place really is different from Inuba. And it's the first time I've ever been away from home, too." he said. Yukari smiled and she patted the young student's head.

"Just. . . Oh, Shiro, I'm just being worried now. I'm still not sure about this." She said. The gray-brunette chuckled and smiled kindly.

"It's fine, Okaasan. The dorms' only a half-hour train ride from your apartment. And besides, you went to Gekkoukan yourself and you said it was an amazing school. I really do want to get my grades ready for college. Please, don't worry, I'll be fine." he assured. Sighing herself, Yukari nodded.

"Alright. Just be sure to be careful and be good, alright?" she asked. Shiro nodded and Zero suddenly let out a bark, pawing at the window. The two looked and they saw that they were already in front of the dorms, the same that Yukari had lived in her high school days.

The building was towering with four floors, counting the roof as well. It gave a homely appeal that only a few buildings had. Yukari pulled Shiro into a hug and kissed the top of his head.

"I'll see you during Golden Week, alright?" she asked.

"Of course, Okaasan. I'll see you then, Come on, Zero." said Shiro, he and his dog stepping out of the cab and unloading Shiro's wheeled suitcase and duffle bag. He waved to his guardian as the cab drove off and he looked up at the dorms, taking in a breath.

"Well," He gripped Zero's leash tighter, "lets get through this, Zero."

Giving a bark, Zero led his owner up the steps and the mixed-eye-colored teen knocked on the wooden double doors. Blinking when no one answered, Shiro reached into his pocket and pulled out the spare key he was sent when his acceptance latter of Gekkoukan High came in the mail. He pushed the doors open and he and his dog stepped in.

"D-Dog? NOOOO! K-Keep it away!"

Shiro jumped at the abrupt scream and he only managed to catch sight of slightly orange hair and a small stature before the person ran up the stairs with the sound of a shutting door. Zero let out a yip and Shiro tilted his head.

"Huh, what was-oh, it's was your dog."

Looking up, Shiro saw that now coming down the stairs was a girl his age with peach-tone skin. Her eyes were a deep color of forest-green and her and slight curly black hair was complimented with sky-blue highlights and she was dressed in the Gekkoukan High uniform, but with a scarf around her neck, her ears pierced with pearl earrings, and various bracelets on her wrists.

"Sorry about that. Yuki-san has a little dislike for dogs," she said before smiling, "Hi, you must be another of our newest students. My name's Taiga Sagara, nice to meet you." she said.

"I'm Shiro Takeba, and this is Zero. It's nice to meet you, Sagara-san." said Shiro politely.

"No need to be formal, we're all- OK, I'd be lying if I said we're _all _friends around here- But, I can tell you that you'll be making friends around here, at least a few, I guess. Anyway, just call me Taiga, alright, Shiro-san?" asked the highlighted-haired girl. Once he nodded in return, the girl smiled at his dog, "Can I pet him? I don't see why Yuki was afraid of this one. He's big, but he acts so calm." she said.

"When he's on his harness, he is. Oh, and yes, you may," said Shiro, Taiga already at work with petting the tri-colored dog, "By the way, how many otherstudents are here, and where are they, Taiga-san? This place seems so quiet."

"Oh, well I know for sure that most of them are either probably getting food since it's a weekend and some others are just settling their things upstairs. And there's six of us, seven counting myself, living here at the moment. Come on, I'll give you a quick tour, and show you your room." said Taiga, standing up. Quite easily, she showed him the lounge, kitchen, the reception desk, the downstairs restroom, and she was soon leading him up the stairs.

"Now, here's something you should know. Kirijo-san- she's the one who watches over the dorm and she happens to be the head of the board of administration to Gekkoukan- has strict rules about the rooms around here. Due to space issues and lack of spare dorms, everyone living under this roof will be grouped into rooms with four people. Girls are the third floor, boys on the second. Both are allowed on either floor as long as they do not stay after ten o'clock. Eleven on weekends. No alcohol or smoking is permitted in the rooms and all pets, like Zero here, are not allowed unless they are permitted by Kirijo-san," explained Taiga as they made it to the second floor, "Now, your room should be three doors down. You'll be roomed with Akatsuki-san and Inoue-san."

"Wait, I thought you said there was no need to be formal with everyone?" asked Shiro.

"I also said I'd be lying if I said we were all friends around here. I'm not saying they're bad or anything but Akatsuki-san doesn't really socialize with anyone, and Inoue-san is just a very quite person. I'm guessing he's just shy," Taiga shrugged, "Either way, dinner's gonna be at seven-thirty and curfew is eleven." she said, already leading Shiro to his room.

"Well, thank-GAH!"

The both of them jumped when the cracking tail of a black whip snapped at Shiro's boot-clad feet, Zero giving a startled bark and Shiro nearly stumbling over the canine.

"Heh, I knew that would happen."

Because his glasses were knocked off him, Shiro couldn't tell who was standing in front of him.

"Luricaso-san! Would you put that away! You'll hurt someone with that!"

"That's the whole point in having it, Taiga-tan~"

Shiro felt Zero nudge his glasses into his hand and he thanked the dog before slipping his lenses on, looking up at the towering silverette before him.

Looking as old as Taiga and himself, the new boy had his silver-colored hair falling near his shoulders, his long and parted bangs nearly covering his crimson-red right eye. His other eye was a silver-blue. His silver hair brushed close to the dark blue scarf around his neck. The male smirked from above him, his eyes proudly looking over him.

"Like my whip, pip-squeak?"

Face coloring and cheeks puffing out annoyingly, Shiro stood up, his irritation only rising when he realized that the other male was a few inches taller then him. Curse his shortness.

"No, I certainly did not. And my name his Shiro, not pip-squeak. So please," he gritted his teeth, "Do not _call _me that."

The unknown teen's smirk only widen, and he chuckled darkly, "Would you believe it, Taiga-tan? The little dog-shit here has bark." he crackled. Shiro bit back the growl in his throat while Taiga narrowed her eyes at the other mismatched-eyed teen.

"Why don't you just leave the newbies alone, Ryuuji?" she snapped. Smirk still on and only chuckles coming from mouth, Ryuuji went walking back into a room that was two doors up.

"Nah, this one's too fun to mess with. Catch you at dinner, Taiga-tan and dog-shit." he laughed, closing the door behind him.

"Ohhhh! Just what's his problem!" snapped Shiro, his bangs astray and his eyes filled with anger.

"Don't let him get to you. Ryuuji's a weird guy, and he just likes to scare and creep everyone out. In fact, just stay away from him. I'm telling you this as a friend," said Taiga honestly. Shiro nodded, though he still looked angered, "Anyway, I'll see you at dinner. I suggest you get your things ready and get ready for dinner."

"I will. Thanks for helping me out, Taiga-san." said the lighter-brunette as he grabbed the doorknob.

"Anytime!" called Taiga, already up the stairs to the third floor. Smiling, Shiro pulled the door open and walked in.

"Oh, so you're our roommate."

Shiro now found himself in his room shared with two other boys already occupying the room. On the left side of the room was a poster-bed with black sheets and a few books and random boxes yet to be packed. There were also a few tools on the desk, along with other books. One the opposite side of the room was another bed with light blue sheets, a few posters of the planets along the wall, with books and papers stacked on the desk. On the bed to his right was a young man that looked a year younger than him with swept, pale-blonde that nearly covered his ice-blue eyes. He was looking at Shiro with a tilted head, a rather bored look on his face, a book of crossword puzzles on his lap with red and white headphones around his neck.

"Oh, yes I am," said Shiro, smiling, "My name's Shiro Takeba, and this is Zero. Nice to meet you."

The blonde nodded, placing down the crossword puzzle he was working on.

"I'm Shuma Inoue. And that, "He pointed to the other side of the room, "Is Takato Akatsuki."

Looking to his side, Shiro noticed that on the bed with black sheets was a Third-Year student that looked just as intimidating as Ryuuji.

Though he was sitting, he looked like he could be a foot taller than Shiro. His black hair was spiky and set at a few different angles and his red eyes held brutality. He also had a strong build with slight tan skin and a light stubble on his chin. The elder looked at him, then Zero before yawning and lying back on his bed.

"Um, nice to meet you as well. Akatsuki-san, yes?" asked the male Takeba, only having one red eye opened to him.

"Yeah, I'm Takato. Keep it down. I'm trying to," He yawned again at this point, though he could still muster up a glare, "I'm trying to get some shut-eye." Turning to his side, Takato went back to sleep.

"He says he's done but he still needs pack some things," sighed Shuma, placing his headphones back on his ears and returning to his crossword.

Shiro wanted to talk to them both, since he really did want to make friends as Taiga said, but his own yawn bubbled into his mouth. Blinking tiredly and deciding to take the third poster bed of the room, Shiro placed his things down and he un-strapped Zero from his harness. Pulling off and folding his glasses, the teen patted his lap and Zero hopped on, circling a few times before lying down at the head of the bed. Shiro pulled out the tie on his hair and he laid his head on his dog's shoulder and laughing softly when Zero's fluffed and wispy tail covered his stomach. In no time at all, he was already nodding off, Zero following.

Shuma looked at him for a while, making sure he was fast asleep, before looking at Takato.

"He's the new member, right? Just like the Chairman said?" he asked. Takato opened his eyes and nodded sleepily.

"Yeah. But I'm kinda doubting it. He looks like he's scared of his own shadow, no pun intended." he said with a yawn.

"Yet the Chairman say's he's very strong. You think he might have the potential?"

"It's possible. But then again, he is _**their**_ son." Takato added seriously, "I still have my doubts, though. We won't know till tonight's meeting on what we're gonna do with him," Batting his hand, the black-haired roommate turned to his stomach, "Just don't worry about it now. Sheesh."

Sighing, Shuma returned to his puzzle, Shiro and Zero oblivious to what just occurred.

* * *

"Aigis, is everything ready?"

"Yes. Everything is in order and our companions should have a easy adjust since the graduation ceremony."

In one of the most busy and tallest skyscrapers of Iwatodai, a woman with long and slightly waved, rose petal-red hair and rouge-red eyes nodded with a slight smile on her crimson-red painted lips. The woman she had called Aigis, a young lady with crystal-blue eyes and pale-blonde cropped hair, was walking around her tremendous office, her feet making like pats while the red-haired woman looked at her with a cocked brow.

"Aigis, I'm starting to wonder if I should be the one worried here. Please, calm down or you'll make a dent in the floor." Observed the woman.

"I apologize, Mitsuru-san. It has just been a long time since we have seen anyone since graduation. And now with this sudden turn of events." spoke Aigis in her robotic-feminine tone, almost worriedly.

"I know. In fact, I'm still surprised that everyone I called is coming," Mitsuru looked out the window, her eyes half-closed in concern, "I just hope we'll all get along like we did before. People change, but I just hope too much hasn't changed." she said, her hands threading once through her red hair. There was a sudden ring on the PA speaker of Mitsuru's desk.

_***Miss. Kirijo, your four 'o clock attendants are here.***_

Mitsuru walked over to the PA box and she answered it.

"Send them in." she said. In only a matter of minutes did four familiar adults, one college student, and a old yet still perky, white Shiba Inu came in.

"Hey, been awhile huh?" asked the silver-haired man of the group, smiling and already pulling Mitsuru into a hug.

"Good to see you as well, Akihiko." laughed Mitsuru, hugging the man back.

"Hey, don't I get any love, Mitsuru-san? Don't leave me hanging!" whined the man wearing an American baseball-cap with his brown hair done in a buzz-cut and dark eyes that held humor. Mitsuru merely laughed light before shaking her friend's raised hand.

"Junpie, humorous as always." she laughed.

"Hey, I can only be me. Aigis!" chimed Junpie, running over to hug the robotic female, only to fall on his own face when Aigis made a side-step.

"He's been trying to get that from us as well, Mitsuru-san. And it's certainly good to see you in good health." giggled the aquamarine-green-haired woman with his long hair braided. She and Mitsuru shook hands.

"You as well, Fuuka-san. Ken-kun, how's college?" asked Mitsuru to the young male of the group, his brown hair almost the same as it was when he was child. The old dog by his side nuzzled her leg and she petted him as she welcomed the college student.

"I've been good. I've majored in Mathematics. Oh, and thank you for allowing me to teach eleventh grade Math, Mitsuru-san. It'll be good to see Gekkoukan again." replied Ken.

"Actually, come to think of it, you've hired all of us as teachers, Mitsuru-san. Why's that?" asked Yukari, the last of them.

"I'll explain more as soon as our last guest arrives. Until then, lets all catch up. I can understand that all of you must be tired after returning here." said Mitsuru, leading everyone to sit on the red leather couches of her office. Everyone conversed and talked, having a good time catching up, before Mitsuru's PA box rang again.

_***Miss. Kirijo, a Mr. Shinji Hanshou is here to see you. He is scheduled for four 'o clock as well.***_

"Shinji!" exclaimed Akihiko, everyone else too shocked to speak and Koromaru letting out a surprised bark. Mitsuru answered the PA once again.

"Send him up." she said calmly, as if not effected.

"Y-You got a hold of Shinjiro?" stuttered Yukari, brown eyes wide and fearful. Mitsuru nodded from her spot by her desk.

"He's needed in this as much as the rest of us. Believe me," Mitsuru bit the inside of her lip, her secretive worriedly look hidden, "He has a lot to do with this."

The second she said that, the door was pulled open and a man dressed in a red-brown coat, black T-shirt, grey jeans, and black boots came walking in, his eyes sunken and sulking.

"Tch, what is this, a welcome party?" he asked sarcastically.

"Somewhat. Thank you for coming, Aragaki-san." said Mitsuru, taking her seat in her swivel chair. Shinjiro narrowed his eyes at her before crossing his arms.

"It's Hanshou now, thanks. So what did you need me for this time? I'm tired of being some sort of St. Bernard for you, Kirijo." he muttered. The red-haired leader of the Kirijo group gestured to a seat between Yukari and Akihiko.

"Take a seat, and I explain." she said. Sighing tiredly, Shinjiro walked over and took a seat.

"Taking care of yourself, Shinji?" asked Akihiko, grinning at his childhood friend. Shinjiro shrugged.

"If you mean by knocking off the suppressants, then yeah, I'm fine, Aki." he chide.

"M-My, you've grown out your hair." observed Fuuka, noticing that the man's dark hair now reached to his shoulder blades, his bangs now framing his face, yet still not doing a thing to help his pale cheeks and tired look. Shinjiro simply gave one nod, leaning back on the couch and still looking like he didn't want to be there. Both he and Yukari looked at different directions of the room, anywhere but the other.

"Alright, if I can now have all of your attention, "The room quieted down and Mitsuru stood before all of them, her hands clasped behind her back, "Now, we are here to discuss the return of," the red-head took another breath before sighing, "The Dark Hour and Tartarus."

Already the whole room bombarded with questions, Koromaru barking at the whole scene as if he were asking his own questions.

"Please, everyone calm down!" called Mitsuru, everyone silencing and allowing her to continue, "I know it has been twenty-six years since we eliminated the Dark Hour but for some reason, a few weeks ago to be precise, Aigis had a few abnormalities go on with her system, so we went to Gekkoukan at midnight just to make sure. Sure enough, there was Tartarus, as if we had never gotten rid of it in the first place. There is also something upsetting I should mention. When Aigis and I tried to summon our Personas. . . They did not come."

A silence went out through the room, all of them holding a lost look on their face. Finally, Fuuka spoke.

"They. . . They did not?" she asked, looking to her hand with her fingers curling slightly, her senses almost feeling the cool metal of her evoker and the warm glow of Lucia.

"Yes," Mitsuru sighed again, her skin looking pale as if her mentioning took a lot out of her, "We're afraid to say that our connection, as in all of us in this room, was broken after Minato and Minako. . ." he voice trailed off for a second, Koromaru's whimpers only lapping the dead and cold silence before she continued, "A-Anyhow, I regret to say that for whatever being or supernatural force that is uprising the Dark, we are not able to intercept or defeat it." she muttered.

"W-Wait here, Mitsuru-san! So you're saying that-that there's no way _we _can stop this!" exclaimed Junpie, eyes bugged out. Mitsuru nodded her head gravely.

"What! So that means all our work. . . It-it was for _nothing_?" stuttered Ken, the white dog on his lap shaking and whimpering.

"Not necessarily," said Mitsuru, pulling out a remote control and pressing a few buttons that lowered a giant screen from the ceiling. On the black screen was the seal of the Kirijo Group. Another slide flipped to different files of seven high school students.

"Hey, why do you have Ryuuji up there?" asked Junpie, leaning forward.

"And Kaguya as well? Mitsuru-san, what's going on?" asked Fuuka, her eyes on the file of a young boy with brown hair with reddish-coloring around his bangs with heterochromic eyes of red and blue-green.

"The files you see here are those currently living in our old dorm. They are Taiga Sagara, Kaguya Hiroka, Yukino Hime, Ryuuji Luricaso, Takato Akatsuki, Shuma Inoue, Cecilia D'Entropie, and Shiro Takeba," She did caught the painful recognition in Shinjiro's eyes but she only enhanced on every file but Shiro's, "All seven of these students displayed unique qualities of obtaining the potential. With all seven of them willfully committing to the situation, Aigis and I escorted them to Tartarus. What we found was astounding," the next slide she slipped to displayed seven evokers that were designed and modeled as different guns.

"When entering Tartarus, each of these students had discovered their evokers in their pockets. How they obtained them is something we have yet to figure out. However, after exploring only the second floor of Tartarus, we've seen that these evokers function the same as our own. At one single pull of the trigger, each of these students entered a state of terror that had give them a 'mindless' state, allowing their Personas to take their forms. And at the precise end of the battle, all seven were subdued in a two-week comatose before waking up. I've explained to them the situation, and they have agreed to assit in whatever way they can."

A silence swept the room again, and then Akihiko spoke.

"Alright, just one thing, Mitsuru. Actually, a lot of things but I'll make them short. For one thing, if all of these kids living in our dorm can use Personas, then what about that last one? Yukari, isn't he your kid?" asked the silver-haired cop.

"W-Well-" Yukari started.

"He has yet to awaken his. And he is not Yukari's child," interrupted Mitsuru, her screen now slipping to full-view of Shiro's profile, "But before I go any further, let me introduce you all more about Shiro Takeba. As you can see, Yukari here is only his guardian, since she had custody over him when he barely turned six. He is a young man with a promising future, since he excels in his classes. However, he is rather abnormal. While growing up, he has suffered having panic attacks and rashes due to unknown allergens. Takeba, have you found out what these allergens are?" asked the red-eyed heiress. Everyone had their eyes on Yukari, the latter looking at her lap and shaking her head.

"No. I've taken him to a lot of doctors and therapists but they said they have no idea either. B-But still! It hasn't effected Shiro in anyway! He's such a sweet boy, and I know that I'm not his mother but. . . But I treat him as if I were! I love Shiro with all my heart, and-and. . ." Yukari was so lost at breath, and she looked ready to cry.

"I understand. I wasn't accusing you of being a bad mother, Takeba, you know that," stated Mitsuru with one hand raised, "I would just like to point out the actual cause to these symptoms for these causes. As all of you may or may not know, infants can be affected with congenital diseases due to their mothers affecting their lifestyles during pregnancy. Alcohol, uses of drugs in any forms, smoking, and others of such cases cause these effects. However, Shiro's case is far more different," Mitsuru turned her gaze to Shinjiro, "Aragaki- Forgive me, _Hanshou_, you obviously have taken suppressants when you were younger, yes?" she asked.

"What of it? I stopped taking those after graduation, remember? What do I have to do with this?" growled the brown-haired man.

"It has a lot to do with you, considering that you are his biological father." muttered Mitsuru, eyes narrowed and not even flinching when everyone stood up. Shinjiro's face twisted with pain for a quick second before he looked at the ground, eyes angry and frown set firmly.

"H-He isn't mine! I'm not even married and I've never gotten with some whore!" he snapped, silvery eyes flashing.

"Shinji. . . He looks like you. I mean, just look at the photo." pointed out Akihiko unsettlingly. All eyes went to the photo, and even though the boy was smiling, everyone could see that the boy's eyes were oval-shaped and his left eye was the same color of steel-grey. His face was the same shape as Shinjiro's, and his hair color held a touch of grey in it's light brown mix, a color lighter than Shinjiro. If he was glaring, had shorter and slightly messy hair, and both eyes grey, he and Shinjiro could have been twins.

"So. . . What? The kid looks a little like me, big deal! Don't go pointing fingers at me!" he snapped.

"But then. . . That means you lied."

Everyone looked back to Yukari, head bowed and her shoulders shaking.

"What-"

"You lied to Shiro!" Tears ran down her cheeks as Yukari said this, her eyes boring furiously into the tall man's, "You promised him you would come back to him! He was little then, but he understood! He believed that you would come back for him!"

"Yukari-"

"No, DON'T "Yukari," me! Do you even know how hard it was for me and him! Whenever we went out walking and saw other families, he would always stare at the fathers the hardest! He would throw fits and cry whenever Father's Day came around and on every birthday he had, including his last one, he would tell me what he would want for his birthday. And do you know what it was?" Yukari didn't even get the chance to answer, ""I want to see my father walk through the door, hug me, and tell me that he's proud to be my father, as proud as I am to be his son." That's what he always wanted Shinjiro!"

"Please, calm down Yukari-san." objected Fuuka, placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder. Yukari, however, shook it off.

"No, Fuuka! He needs to listen to this! Mitsuru may have invited him, but he still could have brushed it off! He never listened to us, anyhow, so that only means that he _does _care for Shiro, and he wants to see him! Don't you even tell me I'm wrong, you bastard!" Everyone was shocked, surprised that Yukari had even cursed, ""After all this time, you finally decided to show your face again! I thought you said your lives weren't crossed anymore!"

His breaking point hit it's limit, and because of that, Shinjiro snapped.

"Well you didn't get me the chance to say that I would come back for him!"

He panted heavily, his breath only seething past his teeth and the quiet room only echoed the sound more.

"So, you were lying when you said he wasn't your son." said Ken quietly. Shinjiro closed his mouth, hiding his gritting teeth and nodding once.

"Yeah," his sunken eyes drew over to Shiro's smiling picture, "That's my son."

"Hey, guys?" everyone now looked at Junpie, "Not that I don't want to know how this kid was born but, does everyone know what time it is?"

"Around ten now, why?" asked Akihiko.

"Alright, I know I'm not the sharpest of the group here, I'll admit that. But have we all forgotten what happens in the Dark hour on a full-moon?" he asked.

"No. . . Oh, my god." breathed Mitsuru, everyone else quick to catch on.

"We have to get to the dorm! Fast!"

Someone had shouted that, but yet no one has paid mind since they already raced out the door.

Before anyone knew it, it was already eleven, and the residents of the dorm were doing their last minute things before getting ready to tuck in.

* * *

"So. . . He won't bite me?"

"No, he won't Yuki-san. I promise."

Yukino looked at the brown-haired boy's kind smile, before looking at the panting Zero. She took a small step back, her bright green eyes looking at the black-furred hound.

"It's going to take a while to get use to him, so I'm just going to keep my distance. But other than that, "she smiled cheerily at Shiro, "It's nice to meet you, Shiro-san."

"You as well." replied Shiro, walking his way into the lounge and deciding to see what else everyone was doing. Taiga looked engrossed with whatever late-night show was playing. Shuma was on the floor with a book in his hand and his headphones present on his ears. He knew that Takato had left outside to take a smoke (He thanked everything above him that the older respected the dorm rules). He didn't know what Ryuuji was up to but he was _very _sure that he didn't want to know, since who knew what went through his new tormentor's mind.

He was glad to have met the two other occupants at dinner. One was a Third-Year girl with lightly-curled blonde hair tied in a ponytail with emerald-green eyes. She was taller than him (Of course he was the shortest in the dorm) with slightly tan skin and a beauty mark on the left corner of her mouth. The other was a male, but he was rather quiet. Before he could even talk to one of them, they both left dinner rather abruptly.

"Don't be offended," said Taiga moments ago as she and Shiro placed the dishes from dinner away in cupboards of the kitchen, "Cecilia-san doesn't hang around much. And Kaguya-san is shy like Shuma-san, so you don't have to worry. My guess is that we'll all warm up and get use to each other or we'll all just ignore each other by the time we graduate." she said with a shrug.

Shiro was at least glad to know the type of people he would be living with. Alright, glad wouldn't be his first word exactly, since all of them wouldn't seem to get along with each other. But he was somewhat glad that he was making friend's with Taiga, Yukino, and Shuma was warming up to him a bit.

Sighing and feeling a little drained, Shiro motioned Zero to follow him up the steps.

"Goodnight!" he called out, getting only a few responses before he headed up the stairs with Zero leading the way.

_*I am thou. . .*_

The wind was knocked-out him, shattering glass ringing through his ears. Shiro clutched his stomach, and he fell back.

_*Thou art I. . .*_

His glasses dangled off his nose, and someone had caught his arms with his feet scrambled under him. He could hear wind blowing in his ears, and he could have sworn he heard that shattering glass sound.

"Heh, can't even stand on your two feet, shrimp?"

Mismatched eyes widen before turning angry, and Shiro sprang to his feet and took big steps back, fixing his glasses and glaring at Ryuuji's smirking face.

"Quit calling me that!" he yelled, stomping his foot.

"Temper, temper, Shiro Take_baka_." teased the silverette, laughing at the nickname he came up with. Shiro let out a harsh breath and he turned his back, Zero by his side and looking at Ryuuji with his sharp canines bared at him.

"Whatever." muttered Shiro, hustling to his room and slamming the door once he and Zero were in the room. Groaning at his newly-found headache, the high school student pulled out the tie in his hair and he pushed his long hair behind his shoulders, the grey-brown tendrils reaching his hips.

"Aw man. I forgot that I had to buy Zero's food. You only ate scraps, huh, buddy?" he asked his dog, the huge dog barking in reply. Nodding to himself, Shiro walked over to th bed and he pulled Zero's harness, leash, Shiro's light green windbreaker, and flashlight from under his wheeled bag. Once Zero was set and with his windbreaker slipped on, he walked his dog out of his room and he made it down the steps.

"Huh, everyone must've gone to bed. Well, might as well leave a note." Walking over to the sign-in sheet at the reception desk, he wrote down a quick note before walking out the door and turning on his flashlight.

"Come on, Zero. Lets see if a convenience store or something is open this late." he said to his dog, walking down the street with a whistling tune on his lips. He didn't even notice that the sky had turned a toxic-green and the moon became a pale-yellow.

* * *

"Taiga, how are you, Takato, Yukino, and Kaguya functioning so far?"

_*So far, so good, Cecilia-san. We've come with a few __**Cowardly Maya**__ but other than that, everything's all right. Though, there's something that's bugging me.*_

Green eyes curious, Cecilia leaned back in the leather couch she sat in the Command Room, her eyebrow raised.

"What do you mean?"

_*These Shadows are functioning outside of Tartarus, and they seem more stronger than the others from the last time we've been though there. I dunno, I just feel like we're missing something here.*_

"Just don't worry about it right now. Take out every Shadow you see." said Cecilia sternly.

_*OK.*_ Ending the transmission, the French student placed down the radio headset and turned to the two other occupants of the room.

"How's the exchange student?" she asked Shuma and Ryuuji.

"Asleep." stated Shuma, sitting down on one of the couches and fiddling with his headphones.

"So the squirt really has potential? You're shitting me here, right?" asked Ryuuji, leaning on a wall with his head tilted.

"According to the Chairmen, he should be very strong. She looked over his file and she's determined to bring out his potential. Though it could take some time." said Cecilia, working over the mainframe of the computer with a map of Iwatodai on it.

"Seriously? Nuh-uh, I'm seriously doubting it. The little dog-shit's got nothing on him." sneered the silver-haired teen.

"Even I have to admit that he seems rather weak." stated Shuma bluntly.

"Whether he is or he isn't, that is not our concern. Either way, we are only to observe him for the next few days." drawled the blonde female, closing the map and bringing up the video cameras of the dorm. She blinked when she saw the empty room that was Shuma, Takato, and Shiro's room.

"Shuma, if he's asleep, then why is he not in his bed?" she asked, looking at Shuma from the corner of her eye.

"He went to bed when I saw him left. He called 'Goodnight!' and everything." countered the male blonde.

"Even I saw the shorty go to bed." supplied Ryuuji. Cecilia bit her lip and she typed in a few more keys before she caught sigh of a note on the receptionist desk on camera. She zoomed-up on it and she read it over.

"_Went to go get some dog food for Zero. Be back in twenty minutes- Shiro. _No, he can't be out!" she exclaimed.

"What's the big deal?" Ryuuji pashed himself off the wall and he crossed his arms, "He has the potential. The worst he'll get out of this is a sprained bone or whatever."

"May I remind you that he _has yet _to discover his potential!" snapped Cecilia, pushing past the silver-haired teen and pulling out a walkie-talkie from her pocket, "Taiga, come in, quickly! Shiro Takeba is out and we need to get him back here before the Shadows find him! Look through every area close to the dorms. Do you read me?"

_*Cecilia-san, we have bigger problems on our hands! One of the Shadows we're going against! It-It's different from the others! You need to get to 3008 SunsetPath quickly! Please, we need back-up!*_

Static cut through Yukino's SOS and Cecilia cursed colorfully under her native tongue.

"We need to get to SunsetPath, right now!" he braked, the other two males only managing to stare at her with confusion before running after her.

* * *

"Hello?" Shiro knocked on the glass door to the closest store he could find, frowning that he could see that the lights were on, yet the doors were locked. Huffing, he placed his hands on his hips.

"Huh. . . Maybe we should come tomorrow?" he questioned, watching Zero scratch at the door, "I know, I know. But I don't think we can do much at this point." said Shiro, sighing before knocking again and making an irritated noise.

"Guess we have to buy some tomorrow, boy." he huffed, tugging on the red leash and he and Zero walking down the street. He blinked and looked to the sky, nearly loosing his footing when he saw the whole area around him was in a different color scheme, "Wh-What the-?"

"This is the Dark Hour."

Spinning around. Shiro looked and stared down at the little boy shorter than him. His hair was a silvery-blonde that twisted and wildly covered his head with his long bangs nearly covering his baby-blue eyes. He was dressed in a white coat that dragged along the floor, a black turtle neck, red jeans, and white sandals. Held in his arms was a stuffed-falcon with emerald-green, crimson-red, sapphire-blue, and snow-white feathers with obsidian-black buttons for eyes. Staining over and around the skin of the boy's left eye was red skin, Shiro guessing that the child had a port-wine stain.

"Ex-Excuse me?"

"Is father pleased?" asked the child, tilting his head with his eyes shinning brightly.

"Huh?" asked Shiro. He flinched when the child stepped up and wrapped his arms around his legs, looking up at him and smiling.

"Is father pleased?" he asked again, "I only wish to make father happy. It is said that once he knows that the Dark Hour is back, then father will be pleased. So, is father pleased?" His blue eyes were shinning with hope, and his smile was bright enough to light the dark and eerie streets.

"U-Uh, I'm sorry to say, but I'm not your 'father'. I think you might be mistaken." said Shiro, crouching down to the child's level. The nameless child giggled, holding his plush toy with a smile.

"I know you're not father. You're too young to be father. And father is very tall. And he is very powerful. Father would tell me that he is happy to see the Dark Hour, too." he giggled. Shiro tilted his head.

"The Dark Hour? You mean, what's happening right now?" asked the bleach-brunette. The boy smiled mysteriously with a nod.

"Yes. Father likes the Dark Hour. It's where he gets to fight. He's always loved fighting. And he sometimes takes me to fight with him. But," The child looked around, smile fading, "I lost father somewhere. He just left suddenly, even when he said he'd come back for me. I miss father." he whispered, holding his toy close. Shiro smiled kindly.

"Hey, no need to be sad. I'll help you find him," He felt something tug his wrist and he raised his brow at Zero, who was tugging at his leash with urgency, "Zero? Buddy, I know you want food but just hold on, OK? Lets see if we can find- oh sorry, I didn't even ask your name." he now looked at the boy.

"It. . . It's Heru." mumbled the little boy, his eyes on the ground. Zero continued tugging at his leash, whining and barking.

"Zero, hold on. Please, lets help Heru out," His dog kept pulling, "What's the matter with you?"

"It-It's coming!" Heru suddenly hid behind Shiro, shaking with his eyes watering, "It's g-gonna come and eat us!"

Shiro stared at the little boy oddly before he gasped when a sudden tremor shook the street. Tremor after tremor, the teen's red eye and silver eye looked up and widen as the sudden dust cloud poured over them. Taking Heru under him, Shiro placed one arm around Zero and ducked all three of them to the ground, holding his breath and shutting his eyes as small rocks rained on them. Opening his eyes, he cough as small bits of dust blew along and something big and heavy came their way.

Thinking of no other choice, Shiro picked up Heru and he grabbed Zero's leash with his free hand.

"Zero, come on!" he yelled, leading his dog over to an abandon apartment that could suffice. Looking around, he and his dog ran up the steps of the old apartment as thundering tremors almost made him lose his balance.

"Whaaaa! I want father! Father should be here to save me! Whaaaaaa!" cried Heru, sobbing on the boy's shoulder.

"We'll be fine! Just calm down, Heru, please!" called Shiro, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Swinging the door on the top of the stairs open, Zero ran first before he ran in himself, closing the door behind him. Leaning against the door, Shiro held the bleach-blonded boy close.

"Shh, shh, there, there, Heru. We'll be safe." whispered the teen, holding the crying child close. A cold wind blew over him and Shiro only managed to hold Heru tighter as something flew over them. Opening his eyes, Shiro could only make incoherent noises as some sort of creature hovered over he, the boy, and his dog.

It was something that looked like it could be made from black ink, it's essence dripping forth and creating disgusting squishing noises. It's face was masked by a blue mask and it's fangs lapped over the edge's of said mask. It was dressed in red and blue robes with scorch marks and it's long and gangly arms were twisting and turning with the many in wands in its hands. It's skeleton-wings creaked and moaned as the creture hovered in the air.

"What is that . . ." whispered Shiro, all air escaping his lungs as he fell on his backside.

"Father. . . I want father. . ." sobbed Heru, shaking and clinging to Shiro like a lifeline. The creature gave a banshee's screech and it threw it wands at the three like shiriken, ready to pierce the three.

At the last second, Zero leapt forward and caught the wands in his mouth, landing heavily because of the high jump. He whimpered and begged in pain.

"Zero. . . No. . ." whispered Shiro, his eyes widening with tears, praying to any god he knew that his best friend was OK. The creature hissed at the fallen dog, wands ready to strike at the animal.

"No, please, don't hurt Zero!" cried Shiro, standing up with tears running down his cheeks.

"Do want to save him?"

"What?" Shiro looked at Heru.

"Do you want to save him? The dog?" asked Heru, looking up at Shiro with his blue eyes blank.

"More. . . More than anything." he breathed, his eyes worriedly on his wounded canine.

"Would you sign a contract to save him?"

". . . Yes."

"Then agree to these words," whispered Heru, gripping his toy as it suddenly glowed, "'I, Shiro Aragaki, give my word that I will take full responsibility for the consequences of my decisions.' Swear to these words, and the dog shall be saved."

Shiro looked down at the boy, his own eyes turning desolate when the barrel of a silver and white IOF .32 Revolver pointed at his forehead.

_*I am thou. . .*_

"I. . ."

*_Thou art I. . .*_

"Shiro Aragaki. . ."

_*I am awakened. I, who rules thee till death doth taketh thou. Open thou's mind. . . Release thy heart. . .*_

"Give my word. . ."

Shattering glass strained his ears, yet he could still hear his own voice.

"That I will take full responsibility. . ."

The monster was closing in on Zero.

"For the consequences of my decisions! Please! I-I have to do this! I want it all to end! Right now!"

A breath of fresh air escaped his lips as something shot through his forehead. It wasn't a bullet, but the pressure still drew his mind to a blank. Something drove into his heart, and with his skin feeling set on fire, and something tearing at his mind and soul. Shiro let out a hideous cry of agony, releasing Heru and collapsing to the ground as he cried in pain. Some sort of mist surrounded him, and he screamed and screamed again as something floated above him.

'_What-What is. . . This feeling?'_

He fell forward, grunting as pain surged at every nerve of his body. His eyes opened weakly, and he could only stare as something cloaked in a green trench coat slaughtered the creature with a scepter of a green and yellow jackal's head. He heard the finall screech of the creature before it obliterated into nothing but smoky droplettes. The figure tuned to him, and Shiro watched as the figure kneeled before him.

It was a man, his entire body wrapped in gauze and bandages with a green trench coat blowing around his grey boots. Said boots tucked in the cuffs of light grey pants wrapped with black leather straps implanted with rusty chains. His hair was the color of the sky, as messy and unkempt as Shiro's, on top of his hair with a crown donned with orange phoenix fathers on the sides, bright and fire-like. Implanted on his chest was a golden ankh and in his other hand was a golden shield. His blood-red eyes looked coolly into Shiro's before he sprang into the air and turned into a blue tarot card.

Panting and rising to his hands and knees, Shiro crawled over to Zero and looked him over, giving a sobbing sign of relief when he saw that his dog wasn't that hurt.

"Z-Zero. . . Thank god." he whispered, holding his dog and sobbing with happiness. He let out a few more sobs before his head fell on the mountain dog's flank, slipping to an unconscious-state.

* * *

"What? It's gone?" Cecilia and the group of six stopped when they made it to their destination, the two groups meeting not too long ago and now no longer locating the Shadow.

"I-I don't get it. Where'd it go?" asked Yukino, looking around with everyone else.

"Everyone, are you alright?"

The whole group turned and they saw the original team of **SEES **come over to them in a large limousine, Mitsuru as the driver.

"Miss. Chairman? When did you get here? And, how is this limousine working? I thought you said electrical items didn't work during-"

"It's special," interrupted Mitsuru, only stumping the lot of them further, "I see that the Shadow has been already taken care of. Who established the finishing blow?" asked the red-haired woman. No one spoke, since all of them were clueless, "I see. Well then, may I ask where your new dorm mate is?"

"We. . . Really don't know." said Kaguya, scratching his head. There was a sudden howl, and all of them looked around for the cause of the noise.

"What the- there's something on the roof! It's-wait, it's a person! With a gun! Wait, it's- Shiro, NO!" exclaimed Yukari, everyone noticing that something was eveloping the boy from the roofs in a thick shadow. No time was wasted as all of them ran to save the boy.

* * *

Zero ran and barked, growling and snarling as the blue-haire, green coat-clad fighter from the tarot card swiped his staff through the hazy shadows, drawing them away from the comatose Shiro. A final swipe of the staff was let out before the shadows dispersed, the figure flashing away once again.

From the side, Heru walked over and placed the revolver down next to Shiro's hand, smiling sadly at the sleeping teen.

"I'll leave this gun to you, aniki. Please, have sweet dreams. You're going to need a lot of sleep now that you're going to help me find my father." he whispered. At the sound of clattering steps, Heru let out a giggle before hugging his falcon toy and disappearing in a red fog.

"Shiro!" Yukari ran ahead of the whole group, dropping to her knees and pulling the teen close with hushed crying, "Shiro, oh Shiro." she whispered, happy to see that he wasn't injured.

"We should get him to a hospital and get him a place to rest. Kid must've had a long day." muttered Akihiko.

"Yes," said Mitsuru. She looked at Zero and smiled the slightest, "You protected him, didn't you?"

The tri-colored dog barked happily, despite limping on one of his forepaws.

"We should get him a vet as well." stated Fuuka. Koromaru braked in agreement, already at Zero's side to keep him on his feet.

"So. . . He actually does have the potential." said Takato, looking a little impressed.

"Yeah, and the kid seems really strong. I'm mean, look, he's as knocked out as Minato and Mina-chan." said Junpie, chuckling a bit.

"Heh, lets see if he can just catch up with the rest of us." snickered Ryuuji.

"It could take a while, but he just might." mumbled Shuma, fixing his headphones.

"And he'll have us to help him." said Taiga with a smile. The rest of her comrades nodded in agreement. Shinjiro walked closer to Shiro, staring at his blissful face transcended in sleep.

"Hey, carry him, Shinji. I think only you can." said Akihiko, a rare smile on his lips. Glaring at his old friend from the corner of his eyes, the brunette took the teen and effortlessly lugged him over his shoulder, looking at him once more.

* * *

"You've really grown up. . . Shiro."

**T0 B3 C0NT1NUD3D**

_**And of course, I end this long chapter! Whew! Lot of info already! No worries, more characters are to come! Just be patient, please! Also, make sure to review! I would love to hear your feedback! **_

* * *

_**Now, it's time to find out what's gonna go on next!**_

_**Shiro: Next time, on **_**Live Today, Die Forever**_**:**_

"Just. . . Ouch, why dose my head hurt?"

* * *

"Trust me, Gekkoukan might seem like a big place, but you'll make a lot of good friends here, promise."

* * *

"We're gonna tell you more about this. Trust me, there's a lot to explain."

"What we do is eliminate Shadows and recruit members with those who have the potential."

* * *

"Get ready Shiro, you're about to make a new friend and head on your first trip to Tartarus!"

**Shiro: Coming up, Episode Two: To that of Which Cannot be Seen!**

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

* * *

**Make sure to read and review, and I'll get to you all real soon!**

**This is me saying, Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Whew, I'm glad to see that this fic ain't going in the pits. I thought it would, but I am just very glad that it didn't. :D**_

_**Anyway, thanks for all for your reviews, everybody. All of your support has been really motivational. And thank you to those of you who pointed out the spelling mistakes, I had just fixed them. Everything is touched up. . . Hopefully. **_

_**Anyway, here is the new chapter, from me, to you. Please, enjoy! Sorry it came late! I just got back to school! It's very time consuming! Please don't pelt me with apples! Now lets get this chapter rolling!**_

_**Disclaimer: **_**Persona **_**ain't mine.**_

* * *

_**~Chapter Two: To that of Which Cannot be Seen!~**_

_He swore that the bandages that wrapped around his torso were going to kill him first before the bullet wounds did. But he didn't care. He didn't care about the pain in his chest as he was scaling the steps that Gekkoukan High had. He didn't care that his peacoat was snagging and nearly flying off his shoulders, or how some of his hair was sticking to the nape of his neck. Running and running, he grabbed the hand railing of the last steps and swung himself over, landing on the top step._

"_Shinji! Wait up!"_

_He could hear Akihiko, and he could hear everyone else's calling voices. They all wanted to see __**them **__to, as it seemed. Shinjiro knew they care. After all, they had just gotten back their memories of what had happened. Even when he was in the coma, he remembered everything that morning, a week after he woke up, and he had snuck pass the doctors and nurses of the hospital, knowing that he had to get to the top of the school._

_Yanking open the door, he ran all the way where he could make out three people. Aigis was always recognizable. But the two next to her had more memorable appearances._

_At same hieght, skin-tone, and similar facial structures, the twins differed. The boy had a pair of cat-like, midnight-blue eyes that usually held haunting expressions, his hair a shade lighter than his eyes. Shinjiro knew that this guy was weird. But in any sense, he and the blue-haired boy were close. Close like brothers, like he was with Akihiko._

_The girl laying beside him was another case._

_Her eyes were the color of maroon gerbera daisies, and they were already closed half-way, similar to her twin's. Her hair, usually tied in it vibrant-brunette, high ponytail, was undone and spilling over her shoulders, the white barrettes that formed the Roman numeral twenty-two on the side of her head were now piled up near her lap. The twins' headphones, one of blue, another of red, were held together in their intertwined hands, content smiles on their faces._

_When he finally made it to them, the boy gave a slight smile, nodding his way._

"_Good-haw~" The boy paused, having a large yawn before going on, "Good morning, Shinjiro-san. I'm glad to see that you're healthy." he said kindly._

"_Y-Yeah," Shinjiro felt tongue tied, and he had no idea why, "Good to see you too, Minato-san." he said. Minato smiled at him again, before he looked at the girl and nudge her side slightly with his shoulder._

"_Mina. Minako, there's someone here." he whispered gently. Minako gave her own yawn, and her hazy red eyes looked up and instantly lit up._

"_Shinjiro-senpai."_

_He couldn't control his actions. Once Minako had whispered his name, he knew he lost it. Shinjiro dropped to his knees and gathered Minako in his arms, holding her tightly and shutting his eyes and his face buried in the crook of her neck._

"_Senpai? . . . Hm~" Mumbling softly, Minako nuzzled her head to his shoulder, smiling softly, "I knew you were alive. Thank you. . ." She gave a muffled yawn, her thoughts turning as warm as lukewarm milk, "Thank you for. . . For being alive. . ."_

_He embraced her tighter, so tight that he knew it would probably hurt her. But he knew it didn't hurt her. She and her brother were becoming lighter and lighter by every second._

"_Minako. . ." He gave a shuddered breath, before smiling with a little sadness, something wet stinging his eyes, "Don't make a sick guy push himself too hard. It's. . . pretty pathetic of me to forget the way I did. . ." His eyes caught Minato's over Minako's shoulder, and the brother smiled before nodding slowly, as if giving his blessings. Holding back another breath, Shinjiro leaned forward, his slightly chapped lips kissing Minako's forehead, his nose brushing her auburn bangs, "But even then. . . My feelings for you were the same as always. . ." Pulling away, only to look face-to-face with the tired girl. Shinjiro fitted the bridge of his nose with her's, his usually cold eyes holding immortal devotion, "Heh. . . I got one thick-skull huh?" He asked._

"_Y. . . Yeah. . ." Minako, her own eyes suddenly turning glassy with familiar tears. Though they weren't of sadness. They were of nostalgic remembrance. _

"_I want to tell you something," whispered Shinjiro, his thumb brushing under Minako's eyelid, taking away the tear, "The girl I saw in my dreams. . . It was you. . . You were crying, and laughing like usual," Laughing the slightest, Shinjiro leaned back, his free hand now supporting Minako's head with his other arm wrapped around her waist. She was feeling so light, almost feather-like. He held her more secure to his chest, his hand now moving to her chin, "Yeah. . . This ain't a dream. . ." The pad of his thumb caressed her pale pink lips, and staring into her beautiful eyes, he leaned forward, chapped lips merely brushing her soft and supple ones. He then fully-kissed her, sighing and closing his own eyes when she kissed him back._

_The warmth he felt was so great, it warmed him to the core and it gave him a feeling of assurance. Never in his life did he think he could feel this happy. Here, with Minako in his arms, their lips moving against each others, their arms around each other, this is where he felt complete. He always wanted to do this, even when she had admitted that she was in love with him and he told her not to. This was their first kiss, and possibly. . . Their last. _

"_Hey, guys! We're here! Aigis! Shinjiro! Minato! Minako!"_

_Pulling away, Shinjiro gave a deep chuckle, his eyes looking to the doorway on the staircase._

"_Man. . . Those guys sure know how to ruin a moment." He whispered._

"_Senpai. . . Shinjiro. . ."_

_Sighing and nuzzling her once more, Shinjiro laid down his love next to her brother, the girl's hand once again looped with Minato's. The brother, strong, silent, but kind, smiled kindly at him before closing his eyes, resting his head on his sister's shoulder. A noise came from Minako's throat, the sound caught between a cry, and a sigh of relief. She looked at Shinjiro, eyes adoringly looking into his own, before her free hand clasped his._

_Shinjiro stared at it, a mournful sound chocking his throat, and the wetness of his eyes growing stronger. His hand squeezed Minako's back and his true love gave a weak giggled before her head fell to the top of her brother's, and her eyes finally closed. Allowing the wetness to leave his own eyes, Shinjiro leaned forward, bringing Minako's lifeless hand to his lips, and kissing the pale limb. His eyes watered to the fullest as he stared at the red leather watch around her wrist._

"_. . .I'm glad I met you. . ."_

"_Sh. . ."_

"_Shin. . ."_

"_Shinjiro. . ."_

"Shinji!"

* * *

_**Intro:**_

_**Shiro: "For as long as I could remember, I was told to see the day to the end, to last through it. Each and everyday of my life, I did what ever I could to see the sun set and rise. But then I got to thinking; What's the point? Everything dies. And one day, I shall die. So what's the point in striving towards the next day?"**_

"_**I've heard of something that's been done millions of times. The quickest way to kill yourself. Shoot yourself with a gun. And I must say, it seems to be the most effective. Sure, you're in a state of terror when the moment comes. But when the trigger is pulled and the bullet is launched, the terror is gone. You won't need to be afraid anymore. You're dead."**_

"_**But this case is not for myself. With the gun and the abilities I have, I don't die. When I pull the trigger, I do not 'get my brains blown out.' I live. Or rather. . . I am reborn."**_

"_**Carpe Diem. . ."**_

"_**Memento Mori. . ."**_

"_**. . . Persona." **_

* * *

**(0\U3 1NTRO)**

_**(Day Fifteen. April 15**__**th**__**. 5:00 PM. Moon phase: Half-Full) **_

_**~ Shiro's Status~ **_

_**Intelligence: Average (+1) **_

_**Charm: Adequate (+1)**_

_**Bravery: Timid (+1) **_

_**Understanding: Minimum (+1)**_

* * *

Snapping his eyes open, Shinjiro sat up and bit back a grunt as his nerves began to prickle with a needle-like sensation, his conscious not being the only thing asleep. Yawning, he rubbed the back of his arm over his eyes and he looked around, confused to see that he was in a pale blue room with a few desks, light green curtains, and a table decorated with flowers, balloons, and a small get well card. He also noticed that his backside was aching from sitting on a small seat and that his shoulder was being shaken by Akihiko, a white paper bag and a dual cardboard cup holders that held coffee cups in his free hand.

"Had a nice sleep?" asked the silver-haired cop, easily handing the other man one of the cups of black coffee before taking a spare seat and unrolling the bag. Shinjiro cracked his neck, rolling his shoulder to relax them.

"Aki, where are we?" he asked, taking a sip of the caffeinated drink.

"The hospital. You fell asleep after the doc had a check-up on Shiro," Akihiko suddenly gave a knowing half-grin, "In fact, you wouldn't leave the kid's side these past two weeks. Remember? You stayed by his side. Even now, see?" He asked, before drinking his own coffee. Shinjiro gave a puzzled look before finally noticing that his hand held a grip on a smaller one.

With his eyes traveling the other arm, he saw that the owner of the hand was none other than Shiro. The boy's eyes were close, his prescriptive glasses, pendant, and hair tie lying by the nightstand, his long and bleach-brown hair pooling around him. Instead of his well-dressed clothing, he now wore a blue hospital gown, an IV needle pricked at his wrist with a clear-fluid filled bag attached, stabling food for Shiro. Releasing the strong hold, Shinjiro stared at the high schooler.

"Oh, yeah," Turning away to protect his pride, Shinjiro placed his finished coffee down and he looked at his feet, "Right. They said he's only exhausted. Shit, wouldn't blame him." he mumbled.

"You have to admit, he's got a Hell of a strong will," Looking over Shiro once, Akihiko nodded to himself, "He's just like. . . Well, you know. . ."

Grunting, Shinjiro looked back to his pal from the orphanage.

"So, you guys gonna train him, right? Something's still up with Tartarus and the Dark Hour?" he asked.

"That's what Mitsuru said," sighed Akihiko, resting his temple on the side of his head, "All of the kids who are living in the dorms need to train, and since that's already been done twice, Mitsuru hired the rest of us to watch over them, coach and train them, you know?" Leaning back in his chair, Akihiko raised a brow, "Aren't you here for the same reasons?"

Shinjiro rolled his eyes, arms still crossed.

"No. I didn't even know about this whole thing till Mitsuru called me." he said.

"But, it look's like you've known all about it before the rest of us, Shinji-"

"Like I said, it has nothing to do with any of that crap," interrupted Shinjiro, sighing and slumping forward in his chair, "It had much more to do with that. Mitsuru did ask me. Well. . . You could sort of say I've been like a. . . Intelligence officer."

"Intelligence officer?" Akihiko was now intrigued, and he leaned forward on his seat.

"Look, this just stays between us for now, OK Aki?" asked Shinjiro, getting a nod from his best friend, "Alright, you better not snitch. Listen, there have been some weird things going around for a long time. You remember the start of those cults, right?"

"You mean that small group that's been turning into branches? Yeah, I have. Those guys seem to be everywhere around the world now. The news has been going off with their rallies about their way of life. What do they have to do with what we're talking about?" asked the brown-eyed man.

"They're a group that believes that two Gods of Death will arrive when the year ends and begins, and the whole world will be plagued in darkness," Of course, as any sane persona would, Akihiko gaped at Shinjiro as the man went on, "Now, a lot of people would see this as some sort of scam, but Mitsuru has been looking more into it. She found out that someone from her own company stole the old research notes and video sessions that the Kirijo Group had right after the Shadow Breakout of '99. She didn't want a rise in the public. So, she asked me to look into it."

"So that's why. . ." Akihiko leaned back in his chain, his own arms crossed, "So. . . That's the reason why you left Shiro in Yukari's care, right? I mean, having a kid with you while doing that kind of work."

"Not one to beat around the bush, eh Aki?" asked Shinjiro, his eyes drifting to Shiro's sleeping form, "Yeah. I didn't want anything bad to happen to the kid. At first, I just thought of giving him to Yukari when he was a baby. But. . ." Shinjiro clenched his fists, his jaw held firmly, ". . . I just. . . Couldn't. I. . . He. . ." Unable to find his words, he sighed again.

"Shinji. . ." Looking at the darker-haired man honestly, Akihiko placed a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, it's obvious why you didn't. Shiro's your son. He was an infant then." he pointed out. Giving a dry laugh, Shinjiro nodded with a bitter smile.

"I guess you're right there. This kid," He gave another dry laugh, shaking his head, "Even when I came back late, tired from getting information and working late, he'd rush up and smile, talking about what went on during his day and wondering new place we were going. He was just a little ball of energy."

"And then you left him in Yukari's care." finished Akihiko.

"I had no choice," Sitting up, Shinjiro looked at Akihiko seriously, "The cult already knows that someone is observing them. If they had found out that I had a son, they would have taken him from just like that. I did it for his own good." Looking at his son again, Shinjiro's eyes softened the slightest.

"I don't blame you. He's a good kid," Opening the white bag he brought, he handed a cup of ramen from a health shop from the strip mall, and tossed it to Shinjiro, "By the way, how did you end up with him? You said you didn't, well. . ."

"Can't tell you. Made a promise." muttered Shinjiro, already at work with breaking open the chopsticks that came with his cup of ramen and pulling open the lid. Akihiko wanted to ask more, but he kept quiet and he went to his own drinks. For a few minutes, both men ate in silence, minus the slurping noises coming from their ramen. They heard a small sound, and they looked over to see Shiro roll to his back, still asleep and snuggling into the bed.

"Good. Looks like he broke out of his coma. It'll be a while before he wakes up." said Akihiko, watching Shinjiro's son, "Must be dreaming." he mused.

"Dreaming? What gave you that?" asked Shinjiro.

"It's the same look you had when you dreamed. Remember? You'd fall asleep faster than anyone else back at the orphanage." laughed his old friend. Rolling his eyes, the darker-haired man just looked at his son, watching his sleeping form breathe quietly. Akihiko held back a knowing chuckle, glad to see that Shinjiro was allowing one of the those times for his heart to be on his sleeve.

* * *

Something tickled his nose. Scrunching up his nose, Shiro sneezed and blinked as his vision was blocked by something blue. Shaking his head a little, the teen watched as a metalmark butterfly flutter around his head, it's aqua-blue scales speckled with black, white, and purple.

"Wow. . . It's beautiful." he whispered, watching as the winged insect hover in front of him. Holding out his hand, he smiled as the delicate creature landed on the palm of his hand, opening and closing it's beautifully patterned wings.

"Wait. . . It's so clear, yet I don't have my glasses. . ." Brushing his fingers close to his eyes, he didn't feel the metal wires of slim lenses that were usually over his eyes, "I can't even see five feet without my glasses. How come my vision is so clear right now?" he asked himself, the butterfly fluttering up his arm and to the side of his head, resting right there and keeping still. Shiro quietly tired to look at his little guest but something heavy around his ankles caught his attention more. A silver gleam blinded his eyes for a second before he looked at his feet.

Silver and heavy chains rattled and locked around his ankles, the thick anklets of the chains imbedded with tiny sapphires, the lock in the shape of a clock. _'What the. . .'_

A cold wind blew over his body and he gave a shiver as something now fluttered around his toes. Spreading out his arms, he observed that he was know dressed in a white cloak that trailed to the soles of his bare feet, his long hair undone. Crouching, Shiro tested the lock on his ankles, wincing when that seem to tighten the anklets.

"Just. . . Where am I? All I can remember was being on top of the roof with that weird. . . _thing _and Zero, and Heru. . . Wait, just _where _are they?" Looking upright, the grey-brown-haired boy looked all around him, a mask of surprise now crossing his features as he stared at the area.

Wooden pews covered in purple leather and plush lined up one by one, separated by three aisles that were carpeted with a thick and silky blue tiles that tickled his feet. Candles standing on violet-felt stands with three curling stands stood near the aisles, vases of black stone filled with hydrangeas, barriroses, proteas, and lotuses blessed with pure-white petals with ever-green leaves standing by and glowed by the dark blue and purple velvet walls of the room. Following the twirling links of his chains, Shiro stared at the glowing alter with a statuette made of blue-marble presented on the wall. He squinted his eyes at how the statue was standing.

Arms spread apart with one knee propped up the slightest, Shiro determined that the marble-curved human was being crucified. However, the expression on the person's face was calm and desolate, not horror or mournful. In fact, the person's face was carved oddly, one side with long and flowing hair and the other short, as if two people were sharing the body.

"Am I in. . . a church?" Shiro asked himself, staring at the statue.

"Actually, you are in your sanctuary."

Jumping (Or only straining his chains more, in his case) at the sudden voice, Shiro spun around and saw that a man stood a few feet away from him. Shiro was caught under the hypnotic gaze of the stranger's amber-gold eyes.

"Master?"

Blinking, Shiro snapped out of his daze, cocking his head.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, now taking in more of the stranger's looks. His skin was pale and unblemished, a smooth and aristocratic face framed by ivory-white hair blown wispily around his head till it stopped at his neck, layered with platinum-silver highlights that caught the glow of the room. His attire was a light blue, long-sleeved dress shirt with a white cravat tied around his neck, his pants a shade of dark grey and tucked into black houseman's boots. Dressed heavily and in the shade of azure-blue was his box coat, a shoulder cape a shade darker than the coat draped over his shoulders with both the coat and cape designed with black lines connected to circles sewn with golden buttons. With his left arm pressed to the middle of his abdomen, said arm was covered in a black cape. Evidently, the hand on his side was bare while the other was covered in a white glove with the brim of a black bicorne held between his fingers, a midnight-blue ribbon curled and attached to it along with a white plume.

The man smiled kindly, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"Forgive me, I was told by my master to title you as that. However, if I may have your name, please?" he asked, his tone deep and rich with a New Zealand accent.

"Master? Wait, I don't even know who you are. Who are you? Where are we? Really. . . What's going on here?" asked Shiro, more shaken then calm. The man walked over to him, his free hand suddenly reaching past the lapel of his coat. From out a breast pocket, he pulled out a silver key crafted with the same gems on Shiro's chains, and he knelt down and unlocked Shiro from the anklets, the latter letting out a sigh and bending down to rub his reddening and sore ankles.

"Again, forgive me for frightening you. I am actually quite impress of how mannered you are, asking my identification before giving your own," Pressing his hat now to his chest, he gave a humble bow, "My name is Christopher. We are in the Alter of Momentum, a space created by dreams and the subconscious. When I referred to the Alter as your sanctuary, I meant it was a place where you would be most comforted. It truly is a lovely place," Raising to his tall stature, Christopher looked at Shiro's ankles, "I apologize for the abysmal welcome. The cloak you are wearing is needed for the harsh weather outside and the chains that were upon you were crafted by an unknown force. It seems I was blessed to be given the keys to your lock. However, I fear that you will be locked in these chains for each of your visits." He said thoughtfully.

"Visits?" asked Shiro.

Christopher lightly smacked his forehead, "Ah, I am being so scatter-brained this night," Scolding himself, Christopher shook his head, "Yes, visits. My master does plan for you to visit, since you are our esteemed guest. Oh yes, since I have given my name, may I know of your own?" he asked.

"Sh. . . Shiro. Shiro Takeba." whispered Shiro, bewildered that his own voice was wobbly.

"A pleasure, Shiro-sama," greeted the white-haired man, smiling pleasantly. They both suddenly heard the charming sound of a bells and Christopher now pulled out a golden pocket watch that was attached to a diamond encrusted rosary, "Drat, I've completely forgot the time. We'll miss our ride if we keep dawdling." Fitted his cape to his neck and placing his feathered hat on his head, Christopher walked over to the front of the church, his hand on a curved knobs of dark blue double doors. He looked over his shoulder and gave a wondering look Shiro's way, "Coming?"

His first response wanted to be 'no'. But seeing that Christopher didn't look or act to be someone dangerous, Shiro attentively walked to him and nodded. Smiling his ever-so brilliant smile, the mysterious man pulled open the doors, a bright streak of lightening nearly blinding Shiro.

Cold winds with pelting rain howled and Shiro was soon taken under something thick and heavy. Opening his squinting eyes, Shiro felt himself being dragged by Christopher with something murky and sticky as mud sliding and dirtying his feet. A thunderous roar gave his heart a leap and Shiro tried his best to keep up with the taller male's long and fast strides.

"Chris! Chris, over here!" A prominent and light voice was calling out through the thick rain and Christopher halted. Seeing past the wool coat, his accompaniment could see and gape at the stunningly beautiful vehicle they were coming to.

An 18th-century, horse-drawn carriage was before them, glowing as blue as the Altar of Momentum with it's windows curtained by glossy purple shades, the four wheels black with silver rims. Shiro's eyes widen to see that the horses attached to the carriage were the skeletons of actual horses, their hollow eye sockets dark and blank with their heads tilted curiously at him.

"Do not be afraid, Shiro-sama," Turning Christopher's way, the older man smiled at him, "Though they look frightening, they are quite dolce, and they know exactly where they are going. After all, I _am _the driver and horseman that watches over them." Stepping away and leaving Shiro with his cape, the man walked over and regarded another male that stood by the door of the carriage.

Shiro was sure he was seeing double, for the other man next to Christopher shared the latters looks, Everything from the eyes to his high cheekbones in the exact place Christopher's were. His eyes were the same mesmerizing color of gold like Christopher's, yet his silvery-white hair was combed to his shoulders, giving a sort of rebellious look. He was dressed in a color scheme that the horseman had. He also wore a box coat, similar to Christopher's, stopped at his thighs with black shorts hidden by his open coat, his white thigh-high riding boots polished and unstained by mud. His dress shirt was the same as the other white-haired man's, but the cravat around his neck was black with a single golden button in the middle. On the top of his head was a cavalier hat, also black with a dark blue ribbon and a white feather.

The other man looked at Shiro, grinning wildly and waving at him excitedly.

"Nice to meet ya, Shiro-sama!" His voice was light and flighty, accented with a Wales accent, "I'll be your footman, Clayrence! Feel free to call me somethink' else, though! My twit of a brother here gave me my name and I would like somethink' cooler-oof!"

Clayrence held his stomach as he doubled over, Christopher glaring knowingly with his elbow held near him, from striking the smaller in the gut.

"Shiro-sama, please don't be afraid. I'll admit that my _little _brother here likes to scare people, he's as harmless as a grapefruit," Ignoring Clayrence's scowl, Christopher cleared his throat, "Please, follow him into the carriage. The weather is awfully terrible, isn't it?"

A rumble of lightening made Shiro agree, and with slightly tripping feet, he walked over and let out a yelp as he was lifted by Clayrence, the other male giving a wide smile.

"No need to 'be 'fraid, Shiro-chuubou," A little shocked by the slang, Shiro gave an odd look, which made Clayrence laugh, "Like I side, I'll be your footman for this trip, and I'd be the best footman you'll see in your damned life!" Nodding this affirmatively, he hefted the small high school student into the carriage, climbing in himself and calling, "We're all in, Chris! Lets get a move on!" At the sound of a snapping whip, the horses gave whinnies from outside out the carriage began moving.

Dazed, Shiro only manage to sit and blinked confusedly.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

Shaking his head, Shiro now stared at the well-dressed man who sat across from him and Clayrence. As if he had came out from a still-life painting, the man looked like he was ten years older than the twins, his light green hair brushed and tied, a slim ponytail reaching to his pelvis. His skin was the color of olive-copper, and his eyes almost invisible shade of white. His suit was pressed and smooth looking, in the shade of off-white with a black rose pressed to the lapels of the suit. His shoes were grey and spit-shined and the small monical covering his left eye had the same chain as Christopher's pocket watch. Held in his hands was a deck of blue cards.

The butterfly, who had forgotten about, suddenly flew off his ear at to the man, landing on the man's neck before it glowed and morphed into a broach in the shape of a white dove.

"A pleasure to meet you, Master Shiro. My name is Oelso, and I am delighted to see that you are well." greeted the stranger, swiftly shuffling the cards in his hands.

"I'm. . . I'm where exactly?" asked Shiro, after a long time, his body still shaking. Oelso sat back.

"You are in a space, a ripple of the fabric of time caught between Dreams and Reality, Mind and Matter. Physically, you are sleeping. However, your wandering mind has taken the form of this horse-drawn carriage," said Oelso. He moved his hands this way and that, displaying the glowing blue entire of the room, that looked much larger than from the outside. The seats they sat on were soft with purple cushions and pillows and the floor bellow them transparent, as if it weren't there at all. Shiro was surprised to see that the muddy floor from outside was now a multi-colorful aura that glowed and shined. Above them glowed a purple-crystal chandelier, a glass container filled with glassed goblets and different sorts of drinks close as well, a simple table between the older and younger males, "What you see here in this room was created by you, and the path in which your life will take. Right now, as we are traveling through this path, it reflects upon your own life. You are confused, and the storm in your mind is very dense and overwhelmed."

"It. . . Feels that way," mumbled Shiro, drawing his knees to his chest and resting his chin on his kneecaps, "So. . . If this place was created by. . Me. . . Then, why? How. . .?"

Oelso sat back, deck kept still in his grasp. Suddenly tossing the cards in the air, he snapped his fingers and the deck formed a blue orb before changing into a scroll with a candle-oil seal. The scroll plopped onto the young boy's lap. Taking it with uneasiness, Shiro broke the seal and he unrolled the scroll, staring at the cursive words spelt in gold ink.

"Though the Velvet Room is shaped and formed in what a person sees it as, only a few who are bound to a certain contract may enter this room. According to the date of this contract, two weeks ago, you had agreed to accept the absolute power within in you, ready to receive any reward, or punishment, that draws from this power," Picking up the scroll, Oelso pointed to the line at the very top.

_'I, __Shiro Aragaki__, give my word that I will take full responsibility for the consequences of my decisions.' _

"That was when. . . I was with Heru. He made me say it. . . So that I could save Zero. . . Aragaki. . ." whispered Shiro, the name that left his mouth so alien, yet so familiar. The contract vanishing and turning back into the deck of cards.

"It seems that you have a unique spirit, Master Shiro. And with an interesting sort of character as well," Oelso plucked a card from the top of the deck, flipping it to reveal a image of a laughing jester, a dog chasing after him. Inspecting the card closer, Shiro could see himself as the jester with Zero chasing him, the two of them looking joyous, "You are the wielder of the Wild Card. A New World Fool. Those who have this card are _very _special. Their meaning is zero. Never a beginning, and never holding an ending. But, even more so, with what it holds, the New World Fool can hold endless possibilities," Placing the card back on the deck, the man in white offered a sincere smile.

"Master Shiro, have you ever dreamed?"

"I'm. . . Sorry?" Shiro was confused, more than he already was. Why did Oelso wanted to know if he dreamed?

"Dreamed, Master Shiro. Have you ever held onto a dream that you could never let go, no matter how inconceivable it seemed, or how far it was from your reach?" asked Oelso. From the corner of his eye, Shiro looked at the parted curtain of the carriage's window, and he saw the faint outlines or a boy and man, walking hand in hand. He could hear a faint sound past the thick rain.

'_Daddy. . .! Daddy. . .!'_

"Yes. I do have dreams." confirmed Shiro, nodding.

"Good. Dreams are powerful things, young master. Very powerful." said Oelso, closing his eyes and sighing dreamily to himself. Shiro shifted in his seat.

"Ah, yes," Shiro jumped when the man spoke, "It seems that you have nearly met those here who live in this room. You have already met the twins, Christopher and Clayrence. But there is still one more. However," A sigh came from Oelso, and he shook his head with a bittersweet smile, "He is not here with us today. Probably off sketching, the little rapscallion." Fondly laughing, the green hair man removed his lense and wiped it with the lapel of his suit.

"Keh, that little 'welp all-hways causes a ruckus, I tell ya," Chastised Clayrence in his light accent, "Been only a guest for few 'hweeks and he just acts like one of those, err. . . Hey, Chris? What are those strange people humans call in the real 'hworld? Ya know, the one's with green skin and ripped out organs?"

"I believe they call them 'zombies.'" Said Christopher from the small window that lead to the horseman's booth, the large canopy over him keeping his safe from the wet weather.

"Yeah! A zombie! The 'icckle one's a zombie!" said Clayrence firmly.

"Now, now, no teasing our other guest, Clayrence. He is just frighten. We all are the first time around." Defended Oelso. Puffing out his chest with a light 'Keh!' Clayrence glowered at the chandelier.

"Master Shiro, shall we discuss more later? Here," From his breast pocket, Oelso handed Shiro a small key wrapped in blue velvet, "This will allow you to use any door of your choosing to enter the Velvet Room. We do hope you come and visit."

"I-I will visit," Taking the key, Shiro looked at the man seriously, "All that's going on right now. . . I want to know more about it. If it involves me and all this insanity, then I think it was the right choice for me to sign that contract." Nodding his head, the sable-grey-haired boy clenched the key in his fist.

'_My, what a good spirit.' _Oelso chuckled quietly to himself as he nodded.

"Then, until our next meeting, farewell, Master Shiro."

A bright light radiated off the key, and in a flash of blinding light, Shiro felt his head begin to throb with pain before he heard voices.

"_Is. . . Wake. . . OK?"_

"_First time. . . Might throw-up. . . Get the. . . Bucket nearby."_

"_Don't be a. . .! Hold on. . . His eyes. . . He's waking up!"_

"Shiro?"

His eyes had opened.

* * *

Vision turning foggy for a second, Shiro sat up in the bed he laid in, his bangs only obscuring his awful eyesight.

"Shiro, thank goodness you're awake." said Yukari, having arrived in the room a while back with Mitsuru, Fuuka, Taiga, Yukino, and Shuma. He looked at the five of them, along with two men he had never seen before.

"Wow, I can't believe you're sitting up on your own. He's not even throwing up." Commented Yukino, though smiling.

"Just. . . Ouch, why does my head hurt?" asked the surfer, holding his head for a second before shaking his head, surprised that the pain was gone faster than it came.

"Huh, that's interesting."

"What's interesting. . . Miss, err. . ." Shiro stared at Mitsuru confusedly, who in turn gave a smooth chuckle.

"I am Mitsuru Kirijo, head of the board of administration at Gekkoukan and your dorm supervisor. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Shiro-san." she said.

"You, too, Kirijo-sensei," said Shiro, now looking at Akihiko and Shinjiro, "Who are you?"

Shinjiro, voice held in his chest, could not speak, his eyes caught in the kind pair of Shiro's mismatched eyes. However, Akihiko nodded to him.

"Akihiko Sanada, head of the athletics department for Gekkoukan. And this," He patted Shinjiro's stiffened back, "Is Shinji Hanshou. You should be thanking him. He took you all the way here when you were knocked out." He didn't even let out a grunt when Shinjiro gave a swift and hidden kick to the shin. Looks like endurance really did pay off.

"Oh, really?" With a light laugh, Shiro smiled kindly at the man, "Thanks so much, Hanshou-san! You're incredibly nice." he said happily.

"I. . . Uh. . ." It was Akihiko's turn to kick Shinji in the shin, forcing out his words caught in his dry throat, "No problem. Sure you're. . . alright?" he finally managed out, that smile on his son's face so familiar and warm.

"Yeah, I'm alright. A little confused about what went on last night, and a tad hungry, but I'm alright." He said, before looking at the sheet covering his feet, "I'd also like to know something. That. . . Shadowy thing I saw. And that guy in the trench coat. . . Just who or what, in this matter, are they?" he asked, a slightly worried look now on his face.

Yukari sighed, brushing the boy's bangs away from his eyes and slipping his glasses over her adoptive son's eyes, "There's so much to explain to you."

"Well, lets start it easy for him, Takeba-san. We're gonna tell you more about this. Trust me, there's a lot to explain," said Taiga, "Shiro-san. That creature that attacked you. It's called a Shadow. It's a sort of being that feeds off the negative emotions of people. Shadows appeared around a while back, in a place that we call Tartarus. You can call it the Shadows main domain." she explained.

"Tartarus use to exist a long time ago. The Chairwoman-Kirijo-sensei- and a handful of others were able to banish shadows years ago." said Shuma quietly.

"How did they banish them?" asked Shiro.

"Remember that man in the trench coat?" When Shiro nodded, Mitsuru went on, "He is an example of a Persona. A Persona is, well to simply put it; A Persona is a hidden power that resides in those who have the Potential. With the potential, Persona-users can call for th their Persona and engage them in combat against Shadows. And in order to summon a Persona, Persona-user awake their power by using a evoker," She said, "Akihiko, his evoker, please?"

From out of his pocket, Akihiko tossed the silver and white, small revolver. Catching it, Mitsuru held it out the Shiro, who took it and looked over it, reading five letters engraved on the side of it.

"T.R.U.M.P?" he asked, eyeing the trigger.

"That's the name of our team. It stands for _'Tartarus Resistance Union by Maintaining Personas.'_ Long name, but our methods are more easy to follow," explained Yukino, before she took a closer look at Shiro's evoker, "And unlike before, our evokers are designed differently according to the owner." she said. Shiro, still had his eyes on his gun.

"So. . . The group is like an extermination committee?" he asked, lightly throwing the gun by an inch before catching it.

"Something like that. You see, it's like this. What we do is eliminate Shadows and recruit members with those who have the potential," said Akihiko, looking at the shortest teen in the room rather smugly, "It's pretty interesting, since not only are we helping others, but it also tests out your strength."

"Akihiko, you're scaring him," stated Mitsuru bluntly, noticing that a panicked look washed over Shiro's face, "Shiro-san, please listen to me. This power you have, this potential within you. It's a strong and very powerful will. With your help, we may be able to rid of the Shadows once and for all. Shiro-san, will you accept your evoker and become a part of T.R.U.M.P?" She asked.

Shiro reeled and threw everything back to him. From what he knew now, this was a set series of chain reactions. His first encounter with a Shadow, summoning his Persona, entering and meeting the residence of the Velvet Room, and now discovering his power. Though the whole thing would have seemed far-fetched to him weeks ago, it certainly made sense now. Holding the evoker tightly in his grasp, he smirked slight with confidence.

"You can count on me!" he said firmly, an undying fire in his eyes.

"Awesome!" said Taiga and Yukino in unison, Shuma merely nodding with a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Excellent. It will be a pleasure to have you." said Mitsuru with her trademark smile.

"Just promise me you'll be careful." said Yukari, her charge nodding and smiling at her as he held his evoker. A grumble came into the room and Shiro hoped off the bed, everyone surprised to see he could do that, even after all he went through.

"I'm hungry," he stated, albeit bluntly, before he picked up his hair tie and pendant and slipped them on, "I'm going to get some food. I sure hope they have healthy food here."

"We'll go with you. We gotta tell the others and let everyone else know that you're alright." said Taiga, she Yukino, and Shuma walking out of the room with Shiro, all of them at his sides to make sure he wouldn't get hurt while walking.

"Hey, Mitsuru. You sure it's alright to let Shiro join now? I mean, you saw what happened," Akihiko pointed this out once the younger members of T.R.U.M.P left, "Shiro has no control over his Persona. You could see it, could you?"

"I did," replied Mitsuru, eyeing her parada-clad feet, "I could see his Persona stand behind him just now, and Shiro didn't even sense him. I'm afraid he hasn't fully mastered his potential," She then looked at her old friends calmly, "But, we don't need to worry for now. We'll take small steps for his training, as well as for everyone else since that last attack was unexpected. Also, Shinjiro-san," She turned to the long-haired man, "From what you have gathered now, do you know the name of the cult?"

Shinjiro eyed his own feet before sighing and looking at the old crew seriously.

"They're called Stregone."

* * *

"I can't really say if this is food or not."

The four of them stared at the red contents before backing away, all of the nearly jumping when the substance gave a few popping bubbles.

"This is suppose to be a hospital, right?" asked Shuma, sweat rolling down his temple awkwardly. Testily, Shiro took a sniff, instantly regretting it and pulling back with his nose pinched.

"'Bis is'th why I do noth like hosthpitals." said Shiro through his pinched nose.

"I suggest the macaroni salad. It's the only edible thing here, actually." said a light voice. Standing and looking over Shiro's shoulder was a boy that beat his height by a foot or so, actually looking taller than he should have been. His hair color was dark brown and cut in a short style with his eyes a unique shade of grey, a mole under his left eye. His lean form was clothed in a hospital gown like Shiro's, though unlike the glasses-wearing boy, he wore camouflage cargo shorts and black socks, Shiro only wearing his grey pants and barefooted.

"Seymour-senpai? It's a surprise to see you here." said Yukino, looking shocked.

"You know him?" asked Shuma, though not looking that interested.

"Yeah," confirmed Yukino, "This is our senpai, Seymour Laurent. He moved into the dorms a few weeks before you and Shiro, but then he had to leave the day he came. What are you doing here, senpai?" asked Taiga. Seymour flashed a smile.

"Nothing to worry about. Just had to go through a tiny operation, no worries." he said with a nod.

"An operation?" asked Shiro, a prickled feeling going up his spine. It was now _clearly _obvious that he did not like hospitals.

"N-No worries, really," Waving his hands a bit, Seymour threw a friendly smile, "Like I said, it was very tiny. Nothing major-" A hacking cough cut off the speech in his throat, and he cupped his hands over his mouth, eyes shutting and body racking with saliva and a ting of blood seeping through the cracks of his fingers.

"L-Laurent-senpai?!" Exclaimed Shiro, he and the others frighten and shocked, he and Shuma catching the older student just in time as he fell, landing on his heels.

"I'm-hck! Hck!- F-Fine!" Trying to stand on his own feet, Seymour gave one last cough before straightening his stance, his spit and residue of blood staining and dripping off his fingers and palms.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath, breathing going back to normal with his bangs messed up a little. He looked at the younger students, his small scowl mustering up to a small and seemingly forced, care-free smile, "S-See? I'm alright! O-Only a few-hck, hck. . ." he coughed, body shaking with heavy shivers.

"Laurent-san!" Heels clicking from half-inch heels, a middle-aged nurse scurried over to the young man, a scowl mixed with worry on her face, "Dr. Zozuki clearly said you are not to leave your bed after surgery. If you wanted food, you could have called for me or the other nurses." she scolded, though helping Seymour back on his feet, bringing a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping off all off the saliva-blood mixture.

"Sorry, Orisona-san. I just thought I could handle it." he apologized, the nurse already helping him stand on his shaking knees.

Sighing, the nurse shook her head, "You're body is still recovering from the tumor, Laurent-san. You still need your rest."

"Tumor?" Asked Shuma, Seymour comically waving his hands with sweat rolling down his face.

"Now, now, it's just a malignant stomach tumor! I mean, it _was_, at least. It's not gone completely, but I really am getting better! No worries, right?" he asked, grinning cheekily.

"I actually wasn't that worried." replied Shuma unemotionally, sweat managing to roll down Seymour's face faster.

"W-Well, it's certainly great to hear that you're alright, Laurent-senpai. And it's nice to meet you as well." Said Shiro, finally getting past the initial shock of seeing the older student hack-up blood.

Seymour glanced at him, grinning back with an air that could cheer up anyone.

"You too, Shiro-san, right? And hey, call me Seymour. We'll be living together at the dorms soon anyway, right? Might as well get use to everyone's first names." he said cheerily. Her then patted the shorter teen's head, "Hey, and no worries on your first day of school. "Trust me, Gekkoukan might seem like a big place, but you'll make a lot of good friends there, promise." He said cheerily.

"Yes, yes, well," The nurse interrupted, "Lets take you back to your bed, Laurent-san. You will be taking your leave in a few days, yes?" she asked. Sighing, Seymour nodded, the nurse leading him to the door. From over his shoulder, the brown-haired patient waved and smile.

"I'll see ya guys at Gekkoukan and the dorms! Later!" He called as he left.

"Alright, now lets get you that macaroni salad, Shiro-san?" asked Yukino, Shiro's stomach answering for him.

"Yes, please!" said Shiro with a hurried voice, Yukino and Taiga laughing while Shuma shook his head with a knowing look.

* * *

Across from the hospital, the main street of a busy open flea market spurred on with buying customers, different sorts of people enjoying their time of freedom from school, work, and their daily lives. A young, man by the age of sixteen was walking past the hordes of people, chin-length black hair strewn messily on his head and his eyes the same color. Sucking a can of cola through a straw, he walked over to a nearby park, walking silently over to three people, two in frenzy of a swordfight while the last was busy with something.

One was a girl one year his junior, her hair that normally stuck out at the side swing as her hand brandish a two-handed broadsword, two long pieces of her hair that reached her shoulders whipping along. Her lithe body was dodging the blows driven by the tallest male of three, his left hand wielding a black-bladed sword with a red trim. His long black hair flew wildly as he slashed and nearly caught the girl's torso. Their eyes, the girl's violet, the male's a mossy-green, locked on as their blades met in a strike, sparks splashing of the metal, a test of strength met.

"Fighting?" asked the visiting male, taking a sip out of his drink. The teen at work looked up, nodding him in regard with his hazel-colored eyes casting to the fighting swordsmen.

"Yeah, same as usual. Though it's more of training that fighting," Pushing away his rust-colored bangs from his eyes, he held up a few cards with his other hand pointing to a castle made of cards, "Help me out finish this, T.C?"

T.C lowered his sleepy eyes to the ground, shrugging before walking over a few feet close to the fight and sitting down, straw still slipped within his lips. One when he covered his mouth to muffle a burp did the two swordsmen noticed him.

"Oh, hey, T-san!" Called the girl, wiping sweat off her brow while the other swordsman sheathed his sword in a solid-black sheath, "Good to see ya made it. Now all we have to wait for is Sora." said the girl, walking over and taking a seat with T.C.

"That is, _if _he shows up," said the red-brown-haired boy under his breath, disassembling his castle of cards and placing the deck in his pocket, his left hand drafted with a single feather, "The only reason he comes around is because he has a chance to fight. Say, you seen him anywhere, Sakaki-san?"

"No, can't say I have," muttered Sakaki, leaning against one of the close trees, shifting one shoulder and his chin upward to crack his neck, "He'll show. . . Speak of the devil."

"Tch, heard that, asshole." Stalking over to them with an intimidating air, the older of the now-quintet had black hair long in the front and spiking in the back, amber-gold eyes nearly hidden by his long bangs. The scowl that seemed permanent on his mouth was set and shot at Sakaki, the latter looking calm and cool.

"Finally made it." mumbled T.C, head tilted in a sort of way that gave off that he was ready to fall asleep.

"I'll come when I want to, brat," muttered the arriving teen, presumably Sora, with a long-bladed katana in his hands, "Alright, who's ready to get their ass handed to them?"

"Alright, alright, calm down." sighed the girl, her hands ready with her sword.

"What, _you're _gonna fight me, loli?" teased Sora, his snickering smirk caused by how red the girl's face became.

"Call me that again, I _dare _you." she said dangerously.

"Now, now, Sarah-chan," speaking coolly, Sakaki tried to cause less tension, "Lets just focus on training, yeah? Draw your anger into battle, and use it." he said with a rare smile, though it could still scare a few since there was a scar on his left cheek. Sighing, Sarah nodded and she and Sora strode to the open area, Sakaki pushing off the tree and now turning his attention the other males.

"We're going out tonight, aren't' we, Sebastian-san?" he asked, the other nodding as he pulled out a book from his book bag.

"Yeah. T.C and Sarah-san need to experience the field more, and we need to see if either Sora, T.C, me, or you have any abilities in surveillance. It could provide more help while we're up against _them_," Offhandedly, his eyes rested on the opening of a MCM standard small bore pistol, the entire metal in a deep-red color, "They getting stronger, so we need to practice and prepare with whatever time we got."

"What if there are others like us?" Both teens were surprised by T.C's sudden statement, the smaller usually keeping out of any conversation.

"We'll. . . We'll see then. Until then, all we can do is either relax or train. And since it seems that neither of those two are going nai-to-nail here," From his pocket and with a secret smile, he held out his cards, "Anyone willing on playing some Black Jack?"

"Pass." muttered Sakaki.

"Sleepy. . ." T.C curled up in a ball and fell asleep, Sebastian shaking his head.

"Would someone remind me how I got mixed with you people?"

* * *

With a tired yawn betraying him, Seymour laid back in his bed, a little pissed-off that he was now officially under room-arrest, the doctors and nurses ordering him (Though with smiles plastered on their faces) to stay in his room with his meals brought to him, though his weak stomach not being able to even take a bite out of an apple.

Staring out of the window, he realized it was already late, the sun ready to be replaced by the moon. Golden rays from the setting sun lit up his room as he casually messed with his phone. With a sigh, he sat up and situated himself out of bed, walking over to the window as he leaned to the sill.

"Huh, just a few more days, and I'll be out of here. Well, I at least hope that school will be interesting. Hm, that reminds me, I gotta replace some of my paints. A few got mixed up during the move," Remaining silent for a while, he spoke to himself again, "I hope Oba-san, Jii-san, and Kaa-san are doing alright. I swear, when I get back home, I'm helping out double time!" he swore, nodding firmly to himself. His stomach suddenly gave a lurch and he held it, groaning as something inside him _bubbled_.

"O-Ok, maybe I'll take a nap first, then." he laughed weakly, moving himself to sit on the edge of the bed. Closing his eyes tiredly, he cocked his head one way to enjoy the silence.

_***It's always this or something else**_**.***

"Huh?" Pausing, Seymour opened his eyes, looking around his room. For a minute, he thought he heard his voice growling, with a deep tone that wasn't his own, "Is someone-"

_***It'll either be this useless body, becoming so frail with something as pitiful as a cold, or I'll just shy away from it with a smile. Tch, what bullshit.***_

"Wh-Who's there? Who are you!" Yelling, the light-eyed teen gripped the sheets of his bed, his eyes darting everywhere.

_***Try guessing, you loser. I'm the voice who represents what you truly want,* **_Purring, the voice was now caressing it's words with dark charisma, _***Give into what you desire. You don't want to be seen as a weakling, yes? You want to protect and give, without gaining anything in return? But what about some freakin' recognition? That's what you want, isn't it?***_

Eyes fluttering dangerously, Seymour nodded with hazy eyes.

"Y. . . Yeah."

_***Go forth. Find salvation. Before the Cosmos arrives.***_

"Cos. . . Mos. . ."

Muttering and with hunched shoulders, Seymour suddenly fell forward, his entire body suddenly swept under a typhoon of black feathers, his presence completely gone.

* * *

In the dorms, around ten o'clock, with Shiro discharged from the hospital, he and the rest of the gang sat in the first-floor lounge, along with Mitsuru, this being the first time he had seen all of them together.

Zero (Who practically glomped and smothered his owner with wet-nosed kisses) Laid on his side with his paw and flank already healed, Shiro resting his head on said flank of the floor.

"So he's really joining us?" finally asked Ryuji, breaking the silence and sending a rather daggering look Shiro's way.

"Yes. Do I need to repeat myself?" asked Mitsuru, calmly though still a little annoyed that she was asked this so much.

"No, not that I'm disagreeing, but he still needs work." commented Cecelia, as if Shiro wasn't in the room.

"I'll agree to that." he said, stroking Zero's ears, the huge hound's hind leg twitching and trembling from the scratching.

"True, but you still make a valued addition, Shiro-san. Strength, character, and Persona-wise." said Mitsuru, looking at the bleach-brown-haired boy.

"By the way, what's his Persona's name, anyway? I've never seen it before." said Taiga from her seat on the couch.

"From what I've researched, it's name is Osiris." said Mitsuru.

"Osiris." The name fitted the blue-haired man. Shiro would admit that. What he wouldn't actually admit that with a shot of a gun, that _thing _actually came out of him.

"That's the Egyptian God of the Afterlife, Death in Western Culture," From his spot near the wall, Takato had his arms crossed with his head to the ground, "He was said to be the also called 'The King of the Living,' since in ancient Egypt, they consider dead spirit's the blessed ones for traveling to the afterlife." he said, rather clearly and as if he had just gotten that from a history book.

"How do you know that, Akatsuki-san?" asked Yukino, getting no response from the senior student.

"I'm going for a smoke." he finally stated, leaving the dorms in a huff.

"Lone wolf, as usual." mumbled Shuma, sitting on the one-seater of the room. Rolling off his dog, Shiro crawled along the floor until his eyes found pale hands writing something in small text. Following his eyes, he realized that it was Kaguya. Now that he thought about it, the two of them never really got acquainted.

"Writing a book, Kaguya-san?" he asked, smiling friendly. Looking up before ducking his head quickly, Kaguya gave a shy nod, knees drawn to his chest with his notebook filled with words on his kneecaps.

"Awesome! Can I read it sometime?" asked Shiro, eyes shinning with excitement at the thought of a new piece of litterateur. Eyes blinking, Kaguya's expressions changed with a small smile before he flipped the pages to the back and wrote something. Peering over his shoulder when he was done, Shiro read the words.

_When it's done, yes. I hope you like stories about demons._

"Demons? Really? Sweet, you just read my mind!" laughing, Shiro suddenly rolled on the floor, laughing like a mad man.

'_Yukari said he had emotional outbursts, but I never expected some to be from happiness,' _Chuckling quietly, Mitsuru watched the boy as he was licked at by Zero, the dog curiously happy since Shiro was so happy, _'Shinjiro acts with his emotions like this as well, but not with this much happiness, out free abandonment.'_

Suddenly feeling something vibrate in her pocket, the redhead pulled out her cell phone and answered.

"Yes? Mitsuru Kirijo speaking."

"_Mitsuru-san! Hurry, you have to get here quickly!"_

"Fuuka? Wait, what do you-?"

"_Just hurry, please! You and the other students have to get here, Gekkoukan, right now! Please, there's no time to explain! If we don't hurry, he'll be lost forever!"_

The line went off and Mitsuru stood up with grace that could rival a tigress's.

"T.R.U.M.P, we're heading out to the school, right now! Gather your evokers and weapons and prepare for battle!" she ordered, those who stayed inside stared at her in shock, "Don't just do nothing! Do as I say!"

With quickened movements, the teens dispersed, Shiro only managing to follow Shuma and Taiga up the stairs. Taiga looked over her shoulder and tried to give a confident look to the confused boy.

"We must be meeting with someone, so no worries, Shiro-san! Get ready Shiro, you're about to make a new friend and head on your first trip to Tartarus!"

**T0 B3 C0NT1NUD3D**

_**And that is that. I. . . Really got nothing much to say here. So, let me leave you with these words! Read and review! My school sucks because of it's IB program! I'll be off and going anime ape-shit crazy at the movies and Barnes and Noble with my pals! I ate too much pizza today :P Bye, bye!**_

* * *

_**Now, it's time to find out what's gonna go on next!**_

_**Shiro: Next time, on **_**Live Today, Die Forever:**

"For the meantime, I'll just want you to watch the others, Shiro."

"So that means do nothing, right?"

* * *

"Looks like we have a few moths caught in our web."

"Let me take care of them, master."

"Do what you will. Oh, and try not to get too much blood over my castle."

* * *

"No. . . Stop it! Shut up! Just. . . JUST SHUT UP!"

* * *

"Prepare for Hell, you little rodents!"

* * *

"Shiro, look out, behind you!"

"AHHHHH!"

"Sh-Shit. . . You're. . . You're such a. . . a goddamn pain in the ass. . .!"

* * *

"His power. . . It's going to go berserk!"

**Shiro: Coming up, Episode Three: To Fight is to Protect**

N. . . NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD! HE JUST CAN'T!"

* * *

**Hope you liked this!**

**This is me saying, Peace!**


	4. Chapter 4

_***Pumps fists* Yes! I beat P3P on the Second Cycle, yet again! I'm on a roll! Anyway, hi to all of you once more! This story's building up, and I am so happy for that. And you know, this fic is really helping me out, too! I'm gonna be writing a novel for my tenth grade personal project this year and this fic is giving me a lot of inspiration! Gah, I'm so happy! And hyper! Just had chocolate and cherry cake, yum! :D**_

_**Also, thanks to all of your amazing reviews! A lot of you were hooked up on questions about Zero and you guys seemed to really want this next chapter. Ha, you guys are the greatest! To all of you, I give you Jack Frost dolls, like the ones from the game! *Tosses dolls***_

_**Anyway, lets kick our feet up, grab a drink, and get this chapter rolling!**_

_**Disclaimer: The only material I own out of this fic are Shiro, Zero, Heru, the new Velvet Room twins, Oleos, and the **_**Hymn of the Lamb. **_**You'll find out about that later. Alright, lets start!**_

* * *

_**~Chapter Three: To Fight is to Protect~**_

His head lulled to one side, bored completely out of his mind since everyone was out. He huffed, long hair that shrouded his entire face tickled very close to his chin. He rested his chin on the heel of his palm, eyes glowering angrily at the dark space that was his room.

'_Its too cold. . . And my head hurts. . . And those __**bastards **__aren't even back yet with that woodpecker. . . Useless. . .'_

Something bright past the curtains that were his bangs, and with a pale hand, he brushed the tendrils behind his ears. He tilted his head, sighing when he saw it was only a the same grey and blue-hooded figure he saw every night.

"Have you found it yet? Have you found the woodpecker?" he asked. The figure shook it's head, the sleeves long enough to cover it's arms with the edges of the long cloak pooling a little by it's feet.

"Really now," The boy shook his head, legs always covered by thin white sheets twisting and almost trapping his frail limbs, "How hard is it catch a woodpecker? And one with a tracker, at that." Sighing once more, he pulled his delicate arms out of the sheet and reached for a stuffed animal a few feet away, it's off-white fur and somewhat long snout representing that it was a fennec. He sighed as he stroked the fox's ears, "Father is going to be displeased with this. First that _thing _being born. Then myself becoming ill. And now that woodpecker escaped," Yawning and shaking his head, he looked at the figured expectantly, "Well, just don't stand there. Find that woodpecker!" He hissed.

Kneeling to one knee, the figure bowed its head and stood, pulling a card out of its sleeve and tearing it in half, black feathers spinning forth and tangling around it in a furious dance, the figure disappearing in thin air. Sighing and coughing, the boy snuggled into his bed and held his fox close.

'_Damn that woodpecker. . .'_

* * *

_**Intro:**_

_**Shiro: "For as long as I could remember, I was told to see the day to the end, to last through it. Each and everyday of my life, I did what ever I could to see the sun set and rise. But then I got to thinking; What's the point? Everything dies. And one day, I shall die. So what's the point in striving towards the next day?"**_

_**"I've heard of something that's been done millions of times. The quickest way to kill yourself. Shoot yourself with a gun. And I must say, it seems to be the most effective. Sure, you're in a state of terror when the moment comes. But when the trigger is pulled and the bullet is launched, the terror is gone. You won't need to be afraid anymore. You're dead."**_

_**"But this case is not for myself. With the gun and the abilities I have, I don't die. When I pull the trigger, I do not 'get my brains blown out.' I live. Or rather. . . I am reborn."**_

_**"Carpe Diem. . ."**_

_**"Memento Mori. . ."**_

_**". . . Persona."**_

_**(0\U3 1NTRO)**_

_**(Day Fifteen. April 15th. 12:00 PM (Dark Hour). Moon phase: Half-Full)**_

_**~ Shiro's Status~**_

_**Intelligence: Average (+1)**_

_**Charm: Adequate (+1)**_

_**Bravery: Timid (+1)**_

_**Understanding: Minimum (+1)**_

* * *

Shiro felt awkward. Well, as awkward as things could get as he sat in the back of Mitsuru's Limousine with his fellow classmates, all of them wielding some sort of weapon in their hands. He sat between Takato and Cecilia, the male having thick and steeled attachable claws that was dulled with jagged edges, strong enough to mange a person. Thickly corded in Cecilia's hands was a leather whip, looking as lethal as the one attached to Ryuuji's hip.

'_OK, no need to feel intimidated or anything. These are your friends and senpai right now. . . Well, given that I don't even know them that well yet, but-'_

"Hey, you OK, Shiro-san? You seem jumpy." Questioned Taiga, a large and impressive mallet resting by her feet. Shiro gave a humble look, his shaky hands gently petting Zero's eras, the hound lying his head on the student's lap.

"No, sorry. I guess this is all still new to me. I'm sorry." he apologized.

"There's nothing to apologize about," Sending the young boy a faint smile, Mitsuru calmly spoke to him, "Its not easy to adjust to something as catastrophic as this. Its not a surprise, since this is your only time experiencing this, Shiro-san."

"But is it really alright for me to come? I-I'm still not sure if I can be able to shoot myself with this," He ran his index finger of the raised letters evoker, mismatched eyes clouded with a little fear, "What if I screw up and wind up getting myself killed?"

"There's a big chance of that, dog-turd. But quit overreacting." commented Ryuuji, though he said that a little seriously rather than jokingly.

"Is that suppose to calm him down, or scare the crap out of him?" asked Shuma, the little sword he carried polished, though looking like it could only create flesh-wounds.

"Who said it was suppose to calm him down?" Shark-like smirk set, Ryuuji threw a sly look, "I already told you guys what I think. The kid's shit in the pit. Simple as that."

"Ryuuji-san, that's enough." Said-demanded- Mitsuru, her eyes turning so cold, everyone in the car felt an imaginary shiver run down their spines. Rolling his eyes, the silver-haired teen of the group merely muttered something under his breath, glaring heatedly at Shiro.

"So, uh," Clearing her through, Yukino sent a smile to the bleached-brunette, "Shiro-san, there's no need to worry. Mitsuru-sensei only allowed us to travel the second floor of Tartarus on our first visit. And we'll be in groups, too, since all of us in a huge group just might bring too much of the Shadows' attention." she said.

Cocking his head, Shiro blinked, "What makes you say that?"

"Shadows are either drawn to those without Personas, or the positive energy that has suddenly arrived in Tartarus. Since Shadows are formed from what was once a heart filled with good feelings and happy memories, they are now created by negative emotions, and horrid nightmares," Explained Cecilia coolly, blonde hair particularly shiny under the limo's dim lights, "In order to maintain the control of Shadows per floor, we divided into two or three groups. It provides us more time, and gives us enough ground to cover. Mitsuru-sensei," She turned to the chairwoman, "I think Shiro should stick with our strongest offense and defense members, just to give him enough time to get use to the environment." She offered. Nodding herself, Mitsuru looked at Shiro.

"I see your point. For the meantime, I'll just want you to watch the others, Shiro." She said to him. Shiro gave a somewhat sour look.

"So that means do nothing, right?" He deadpanned. He admitted that he was afraid of his first exploration (A big one at that) but he did discover that there was some sort of odd rush of adrenalin in him that told him he was going to get an adventure out of this. And how could he not? Any new places Shiro got to take, any type that was offered to him, he would take it and make the best of it.

"No worries," Chuckling at the Shinjiro-like look, Mitsuru gave a half smile, "You won't be babysat, but I still want you to take it easy. I only wish that you try not to summon your Persona at this time. I don't think you'll be able to control Osiris this time. That last time was his birth, so he might be a little rouge."

"But-" Suddenly sighing, realization smacked right in Shiro's face, and he bowed his head, ". . . I understand." The limo suddenly pulled to a stop.

"We're here. Come along. The Dark Hour began a while ago," Opening the door, Mitsuru and the students got out of the automatic vehicle and Shiro could only manage to gasp, his whole body almost bending over backwards at what had now happened to the school.

Like various machinery and wooden blocks stacked together, Gekkoukan had now became a tower with a glowing aura, emanating a ominous air that grew Shiro's curiosity, yet still give him a weird feeling in his gut. Someone tapped his shoulder and he looked over, his eyes meeting calligraphy.

_Nervous?_

He met Kaguya's eyes, and he gave a sheepish look.

"That obvious?" When he got a nod from the silent student, he gave a small shrug, "A little. Think you can show me some of the ropes, Kaguya-san?"

The other gave a small smile and nod, and with a smile back, the two and Shiro's canine walked into the tower with the others.

"Yamagishi, what happened? You're call seemed urgent." Mitsuru said this just as she and the students walked into the lobby, everyone eyeing the creative wall pattern that looked like dripping blue paint, mixed with a soft exterior. Fuuka, Akihiko, Junpie, and Shinjiro sat by the large monument of steps, the entrance shaped with different sized clocks on the peak of the stairs.

"It was odd," Once the group was gathered, Fuuka had began, "I thought it was just an odd feeling, but I somehow felt like a felt something within me. I tested with my evoker and I somehow managed to someone Juno. I. . ." Fuuka sighed, as if she had a major headache, "I just can't wrap my head about this. I'm glad that I'm connected with Juno again, yet I know that something is wrong." She sighed again, taking a seat on the stairs again. Kaguya walked over to her, sitting next to her and patting her shoulder.

"Is there anything else to report?" Asked Mitsuru.

"Yeah. Fuuka found out that there might be someone here, too." Reported Akihiko.

"Yes. Somewhere above the eight floor, I believe." Said Fuuka, looking like she calmed down. Mitsuru thought to herself for a second, before turning to the members of TRUMP.

"Alright. As of today, your objective is to scale above th eight floor of Tartarus and retrieve the missing person. For today, I want at least five of you to intercept this, one of you being the leader, another as the scanner and field support, and last three as fighters. Who's willing to go today. Takato-san?" she asked.

"Heh, don't need to ask twice," He said with a feral grin, red eyes brimming with a ravenous instinct.

"I'll go, too. You guys might need a healer on this." Volunteered Shuma. Yukino gave a small smile.

"I'll cover field service. It's not what I'm use to but I can still try." She said.

"I'm going in. It's about time I see some more action." Smirked Ryuuji.

"Very well. That leaves one more. Shiro-san, since you seem to be a responsible person, I want you to lead the team today. However," She saw the look of fright even past those glasses, "I only want you to watch and observe."

"But then how does that make me the leader? I mean, I can't even fight." Stated the narcoleptic teen.

"Whether you can fight or not isn't what I'm focused on. As I've said, I chose you since you look like you'll be able to keep an eye on everyone as this goes on. Can you do that? Can I trust you with this?" She asked. In a state of panic, Shiro would disagree with this, disregarding that all of this was happening to him. But know knowing that his fellow classmen and upper-classmen were poised and ready for battle, he gave a curt nod, his hand slightly to his evoker, which was holstered on his pants' thigh pocket.

"Yes."

Zero whined and nuzzled the brunette's leg, large brown eyes filled with concern. Smiling, and knowing that his dog would not be able to go with him, Shiro knelt down and hugged his furry creature, giving a small laugh as the large dog lapped at his face.

"I'll come back. Promise." He promised, petting Zero. Giving a whimper, the large dog padded over and sat by the others, moving to his stomach and hiding his eyes behind his white-toed paws.

Separating, those who stayed behind wished the others good luck in their own ways, knowing that they would see them again yet also recalling that they could get hurt out of this. Shiro stood by, close in the center with the others. He could tell that Takato and Ryuuji were ready, the darker skinned male sharpening his steel claws with a grin while Ryuuji was flicking his wrist with his chained shuriken as if they were yo-yos, four attached to each of his hands. Shuma and Yukino were standing behind him, the only female of the search party holding a slim and light naginata, Shuma looking away from the whole thing with his knife held between his fingers.

'_Wait, don't I need a weapon, too?'_

"Remember, be cautious and go as far as you can." Warned Mitsuru one last time. With this in their minds, the group ascending the marble steps until they reached the top. Takato made a jump and grabbed the wheel that held the door in place, yanking it down and prying open the door. A cold wind blew over the group and Shiro took one look back, his eyes only managing to catch the steely-colored pair that was Shinjiro's before he and the others were swept onto the next floor.

* * *

His feet landed on something soft, something like newly-installed carpet. He looked around with the others, eyes taking in the walls that were dripping with what looked like blood, the same felt-like wallpaper all around them, tiled floors cracked as if they were hit by rifles.

_*Can you guys hear me?*_

Jumping at Yukino's echoing voice, Shiro made a double take at every point, noticing that the orangette had suddenly disappeared.

_*Loud and clear_,* Shiro watched in amazement, surprised to see Takato looking at the ceiling with his eyes narrowed, his thoughts coming as clear to Shiro as if played on a microphone, _*No Shadows found so far. We'll scout around and find a weapon for bub here and we'll see what we find.*_

Takato shook his head and looked at the others, than Shiro, giving the younger an odd look.

"Shit, not even a twitch. Only your first time and you're not even falling." He muttered, almost to himself.

"Pardon?" asked Shiro, tilting his head. Takato shook his head, stern silent and lone once more.

"Never mind." Cracking his neck, the black-haired third-year looked around, inspecting the area.

"No Shadows," Shuma looked around himself, flipping his knife in his hand once, "Must be because we're only on the second floor. Be ready for anything." He stated.

"This place looks more and more like a shit hole. Huh, gotta wonder if it changes." Mumbled Ryuuji, still swinging his shuriken a bit. Shiro had to look at these three, and give a small shake of the head.

'_I don't usually complain, but I seriously have to wonder how I get stuck with the three most quiet/insane/and/or disturbing people on my first time here.' _Shaking his head again, Shiro tucked a few of his stray bands away from his eyes, looking around a bit before nodding.

"So. . . We should head. . . This way." He said, taking a few steps in the direction he pointed out. He stopped, hearing nothing at first before hearing the others follow him. He smiled a little at that. At least they weren't disagreeing with him, and at least willing to listen to him.

A gleaming light caught his eye and he stopped himself, walking over to the corner and looking at the silver suit case. Kneeling down, he opened it, cocking his head when he saw that there was a scythe that almost beat his height, the metal twisted like tree roots and the blade polished and sharpen with a dull edge. Lying near it was a pair of glasses that looked similar to the one's Shiro wore. Removing his own pair, Shiro slipped on his new ones, blinking as he saw that his sight was ten times better.

"Amazing." He said to himself, pulling himself up and tucking his glasses into his pocket, his scythe balanced on his right shoulder. Something suddenly growled behind him and he turned, his blood running cold.

It reminded him of black turpentine, the blob of whatever it was oozing and twitching, a blue mask covering what could be its face. It hissed and snapped at him, claw like hands rising from its mass and ready to swipe. Shiro took long steps back, his hands subconsciously gripping his weapon. His heart was racing and his cold sweat was causing him to shiver.

"St-Stay away!" He squeaked, gasping as the blob launched its at him. His hands fumbled to his evoker at the last second.

"Per-Perso-!"

"Duck, bub!"

Something tore through the air, a horrible screeching filling the air, and Shiro could only fall to his back side as Takato leaped in front of him, his feral claws gripped. Takato gave a satisfied grin, taking a sprint forward and swiping his claws at the beast once more. Splattering remains of the blob stained the wall and they all quivered and whined before taking the forms of the miniature blobs, masks that held the emotion of crying on them and all of them hissing like the creature before.

"Shit. Fuckers' can reproduce," Growled Takato, looking once over his should to Shiro, shaking his head before scratching his twin weapons, "Guess we gotta take 'em on our own."

"I told you!" Ryuuji popped up, leaping over one of the Shadows and knocking it away with his chained, steeled-stars, "I told you we shouldn't have bought him!" He argued, angrily swiping back his weapon.

"Less lip, more action!" Barked Takato, not wanting to admit that the younger was a little right. It wasn't the right time to bring in Shiro. He just wasn't ready. Shaking off those thoughts, he retracted his claws to the confinements of his leather jacket sleeves and whipping out a silver-coated, Taurus .17 hmr tracker revolver, pointing it to his head with one hand.

A cool rush of adrenalin passed through every nerve of his body, the sound of powerful wind breaking the glass walls of his conscious, and every emotion in his body screaming that he was going to die. With a regressive grin, he took in a deep breath and shouted what came from within, his pointer finger snapping the trigger.

"Sic' em, Cú Chulainn!"

As intense and exhilarating like a liquid fire igniting his heart, an odd blue fog coiled and released around the eldest of the team, something taking form in front of Takato. Standing before him was a ravenous-looking man, his thickly corded and well-muscled body inked with blue tribal tattoos, his body clothed with a green-grey flannel trousers with a torn, beige cloth, two red belts criss-crossed around his hips with a golden buckle. Metallic gauntlets and boots strapped his free limbs and his green-grey coat flew with his wildly long, crimson-red hair. His amber-gold eyes were sharp and killer as a wolf's. In perfect sync, Takato and his Persona's eyes turned equally ravage.

"Torrent Shot." Growled Takato, Chulainn raising the sword sheathed at his hip, drew back the shield he held, and he went pouncing forward, his weapon multiplying into ten and striking three Shadows. The three screeched and hissed as they were diminished easily.

"**Cowardly Maya**. Tch, what shit. Sit back and watch, pup-turd," Crackled Ryuuji, his fingers caught in the trigger of a specialized gun, sleek enough to be a rapid pistol. The sheer coolness and speed that sent his nerve-endings in a frenzy as he shot himself with an invisible bullet, his eyes dilating once.

"Bring it, Rikudo!" He called, the odd mist of energy erupting from under his feet. His silver hair flew as a lean and swift warrior landed before him, kneeling on one knee. His white-blonde hair cropped around his elfin-like ears, his blue-green eyes zoning in on the **Cowardly Maya**. His blue and green tunic, combined with his black trousers and grey and torn cloak, gave him a sinister appearance. His white angelic wings were ruffled yet mutilated, as if demon wings were bleached white. The once-angel held a smirk similar to Ryuuji's.

"Shadow Dance." Chanted Ryuuji, grin widening as Persona warped into a streak of a black and murky creature, its speed charging in and destroying the remaining Shadows. A sudden green mist enveloped around Takato and Ryuuji, a wisp of the mist surrounding Shuma and Shiro. Once again, all was silent in Tartarus.

"Looks like you two won't be needing Medicine," Observed Shuma, looking a little bored even after watching what had happened.

_*Are you guys OK?*_

_*Not sure if Take__**baka**__ is. Little shit almost got himself mauled by __**Cowardly Maya**__.* _Snickered Ryuuji through his mind link.

_*Shiro-san?*_

_*I-I'm fine.* _Recollecting of what he thought about the mind links, Shiro tried his best to keep his thoughts calm, _*I just wanted to see what I can find. I'm sorry for not thinking of what could happen. B-But I did manage to find myself a weapon!*_

_*That's not the point,* _Takato sighed, as if her were lecturing a child, _*As a leader, you gotta stick with us, bub. One mistake, and it can get us in the scrap, too. Damnit. . .* _It sounded as if the older was gaining a major headache.

"Lets move on. Shiro-san, just stay behind with the rest of us." Stated Shuma to the newest member, almost sternly. Shiro lowered his eyes, guilt coursing into him.

"I'm sorry. . ." He whispered feebly, trying to repair whatever trust he held with them. Takato was too far ahead to hear. Ryuuji was following behind. Shuma only shook his head twice before following the other two. Sighing and pressing the staff his new weapon over his right shoulder, Shiro trekked behind them.

* * *

"Looks like we got a few moths caught under our web." Swaying his head to the side once, eyes in the bright color of the sun, the boy wrapped up in soft sheets looked to his hooded follower, "I don't like it. I want that pathetic woodpecker placed in chains. But now I have to deal with these insects?" He looked at the emotionless eyes of his stuffed animal, fluffing the colorless tail, "That just won't do."

"Let me take care of them, master." The figure's voice was rasped and twisted with something demotic. The boy shrugged, his eyes desolating and extinguishing of their bright light.

"Do what you will. Oh, and try not to get too much blood over my castle." He warned, giving a muffled noise as he tucked himself back into bed, his fox's furry head tucked under his chin. He could hear the figure's sweeping father's whisk him away, leaving him to fall back into dreamless and unpleasant sleep.

* * *

"_. . . Resting. . . Valley. . ."_

"Huh?"

Shiro stopped, straining his ears and listening,

"_. . . Lamb. . . Will sleep. . ."_

"Takeba-san?" Shuma was stopping when he realized the paler teen had stopped talking, shoulders tensed and head tilted one way. Shiro looked at the other, shaking his head.

"Sorry, thought I heard something." He said.

"Like a Shadow? Hime-san said nothing about anything on this floor." Shuma talked this quietly, as if debating with himself. He looked forward, seeing that the two elders were scouting just a little away. They were on the seventh floor, after all, and they had yet to heard of anything from Yukino. It was almost as if they had lost connections with her.

"I just. . . Thought I heard a. . . uh, a lullaby." Said Shiro, rather lamely with an embarrassed look.

"Lullaby?" Shuma looked at the temporary leader as if he had grown a second head. Something of a yell of pain suddenly cut off their conversation and the two looked at each other before high-tailing it to where Takato and Ryuuji had went off. Their feet squeaked and slid against the tile as they pulled to a halt.

"Cousland-san?!" Shuma could only give a slightly gaping look that broke his calm look, his eyes following the red-haired girl as she was caught in the grasp of a dark purple Shadow that blistered and sizzled with at least six tentacles, masks attached to each of them. Takato was holding back against two of the tentacles as they tried to hit him in any of his defenseless spots. Ryuuji was pulling with all his might at one of the long appendages with his chains, his teeth gritted from how strong the Shadow was. With a push of courage in his system, Shuma pulled out and pointed the barrel of his 99mm handgun to his temple. A cold breath escaped his lips and the fear of the Shadow was washed away, his frost-colored eyes sealing on the Shadow's form.

"Persona. . ." He whispered, pulling the trigger and his head flinching once. Cold blue winds wrapped around him as man with hair as blonde and beseeching as white-gold tied in a ponytail and held with a metal band took a stance onto the field. His skin was in the color scheme of Yin and Yang, a midnight-black on one side, a snow-white on the other. His eyes were nearly closed, the slightest of his pupils surrounded by a glowing yellow color. He wore baggy white pants with a black, loincloth-like piece at the front with a monochrome symbol of the sun sewn on it, his torso bared and lean. Resting and held over his shoulder was a large mallet, a shield held in his other hand.

"Cover me!" Called out Shuma as he dashed forward with his Persona at his side, the both of them springing into the air, and performing a quick spin, the both of them out-stretching one leg and striking the Shadow.

"Iapyx, Garu Boost!" Called the blonde, Iapyx's struck leg churning with speeding winds tattered with Autumn leaves and whirlwinds knocking the Shadow off its balance. Sarah took her chance and she pried herself away from the Shadow, narrowly landing on her feet before she revealed her own evoker, poised and modeled similar to how SEES originally had them, but it was coated in a black metal with orange flames. With her mind in tuned with what her heart was telling her, she rose her Persona summoner near the side of her head. Breathing deeply, she released the trigger.

"Crush them, Gawain!" She hollered, the blue mist that summoned her Persona surrounded her, a young man as tall and well-built as any knight appeared, his red-brown hair curled in handsome ringlets, yet most of it kept under the headdress of a lion's head, his amethyst-purple eyes looked in with a strong will. His body was garbed in the colors of gold, indigo, and emerald, chain mail wrapped around his arms and legs with a iron sword sheathed in a golden scabbard. Pulling out said sword, both human and Persona ran forward and swung their swords, stainless-steel ripping through the murky skin of the Shadow. Blubbering incoherent mutterings, the Shadow blew away in black specks, dusting into an unknown space.

"That was. . . Amazing. . ." Breathed Shiro, gripping his bladed weapon and shaking where he stood.

"It's a surprise to see you here, Cousland-san." Said Shuma, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"You guys, too. I didn't think T.C would be right when he said there might be others who had Personas." commented the swordsgirl, her large sword hilted on a sheath slung over her Shadow.

"T.C?" Asked Takato, he and Ryuuji holding their weapons. Sarah nodded, her stamina recovered and her breath back in her.

"Yeah. Sakaki-san, Sebastian-san, T-san, Sora-san, and I have been exploring here for at least a week. How long have you guys been here?" She made a double take on Shiro, "And who's the new guy?"

"Shiro. He moved into the dorm a while back and he's on the team now. But besides that, where are the others, Cousland-san?" asked Shuma. The redhead's eyebrows knotted together, as if the people mention were vaguely told to her.

"I. . . I don't remember," She muttered, scratching the back of her head," We just came in through the school like we usually do. But we somehow got separated. I don't know how."

"Maybe you guys were the one's Yamagishi-san was getting about. You know, the ones missing in Tartarus." Assumed Takato, holding his chin in one hand.

"Didn't Chairwoman-tan say there was only one person missing?" asked Takato, his voice snarky yet questioning. As if he predicted a premonition, a creepy flute whistle blew in the area and the four of them swore that something- _someone_- was watching them.

"_**Why do I even bother?"**_

Everyone whipped their heads in different directions, trying to find out who the owner of the voice. Shiro was sure he heard the voice somewhere before.

"_**I bend-over-backwards for everyone, helping out in anyway I can. Any favor, any kind of trouble someone was in, I'd do whatever I could," **_A sort of dried chuckled followed with the voice, _**"I guess it just comes naturally. After all, I've been doing this shit ever since I was kid. Even my mom and grandparents depend on me.**_ _**And what do I get in return? Nothing, that's what. And what have I've been doing about it? Just smiling like a freakin' saint and going about it as if it were nothing. Heh. . . What bullcrap."**_

"That. . . Sounds like Laurent-san!" Gasped Shiro, eyes widening when the tired and empty voice was that of his senpai's.

"So he must be the one trapped up here." Muttered Takato, a disgruntled look twisting on his face.

_*You got that right.*_

_*Yuki-san? What happened? How did we lose contact with you?* _Asked Shiro, relieved that the scanner of the group was connected to them again.

_*Fuuka-san and I have been looking over the other floors of Tartarus. Sorry, we must have lost connections when the odd presence we detected interrupted with our frequency. From what we could detect, its escaped to the next floor. But be careful too, guys. This presence is much stronger than the last Shadows you encountered.* _She warned, separating from them once more.

"Well, if we got something waiting, we might as well get going." Said Ryuuji, looking excited for the battle.

"Mind if I tag along with you guys? Back-up never hurts and I bet we can find the others sooner, too." Said Sarah, giving a friendly smile.

"Might as well." With a shrug, Takato unsheathed his claws and moved ahead, Sarah and Shuma backing him up.

"Don't fall behind, dog-shit." Snickering, Ryuuji ran after the others, Shiro only giving a growl under his breath before following them across the tiled floors. As the five of them closed in on the staircase to the next floor, Shiro raised his head up, looking to the ceiling.

'_Please be alright, senpai.'_

Scaling the steps together, the group made it to a wide and open floor. It differed from the others, different splashes of paint and crudely drawn sketches all over the walls, black fire lit by towering torches around the room. With the middle of the floor modeled with a rising floor, they all looked over to person sitting on a wooden stool, their back hunched with a paint brush in their hand, a bottle of black pain resting on their lap. The painter's movements were quick and agile, very in depth and sunk into their drawing. The person was dressed in a dirty and torn robe, their feet bare and a blue Roman tragedy mask over their face.

The voice had came back again, Seymour sounding as if all happiness was sucked away from him.

"_**See? Look at all I have done! Notice me! Look at all these drawings. What, they don't impress you? They aren't WORTHY for your praise?!" **_The voice was suddenly breathing rapidly and the painter on the stool was shaking and trebling. The torches were suddenly dimming and the group huddled with their weapons, ready for anything.

"_**Well, fine. . . How's this piece of work!?"**_

The black fames suddenly erupted and span around the masked person, the latter now painting frantically from his canvas. Holding out the painting of a three-headed dog, the flames around him burned the paper and the black soot formed and piled together, giving a sizzling sound as the dog from the painting was formed, the beast dressed in ragged sheets that were dirtied and torn. It snarled at the team before pouncing to them, angered as its creator.

"Split up!" Shouted Takato, everyone scrambling in different directions.

The Shadow looked angered beyond all rational emotions, it's limbs stetting forward and suddenly chanting haunting words.

"_**I am a Shadow. I spin the wheel of thy Fortune. I reveal the path before you, from its opportunities to its demises. Regardless of the surroundings, I assist with the roll of life's purchases, taking whatever the dice lands on, seizing and creating thou's density. I am Fate, the Bearer of Cruelty. I am you. . ."**_

The Shadow threw its hand and clenched it.

"_**You're gonna deny my honest and great work!? YOU ASSHOLES! Have a look at this one, then!" **_Leaping away, the painter leaped over his three-headed monster dog and quickly painting something else, tearing off his painting and throwing it over the dangerous mutt.

Like a new skin, the dog was transformed into a slithering and poisonous snake, its scales spiked with hundreds of spines and its fangs dripping with a green acid. It coiled and span to the group, its head snapping one way and its tail snapping another. Takato had managed to catch the fangs in his claws while Sarah had braced her sword from the monster's tail.

_"No. . . Stop it! Shut up! Just. . . JUST SHUT UP!"_

Shiro was sure he could hear Seymour crying that out from somewhere. He just had to find out where he was.

"This is not good," Shuma and Shiro were circling around the snake, either trying to find a way to attack or a way to get to the painter, "the Chairwoman has been telling us of this."

"What exactly is this?" Asked Shiro, wincing as Takato was being forced back by the snake's sharp teeth.

"Its something that didn't occur back then, mind you. Remember when we told you that Shadows are made up negative emotions and unstable thoughts? Well, it could also be manifested into a form when someone with the Potential is not willing to accept the flaws or bed feelings within them. My guess is that Laurent-san isn't willing to accept something inside him, and his Shadow has taken form into this painter who can create Shadows with his drawings." Explained the blue-eyed fighter, shoving both himself and Shiro out of the way of a flying trail of black fire.

"Is there anyway we can stop this?" Chocked Shiro, his fear only rising as Shuma looked away.

'_What can we do?' _Shiro asked himself, only becoming more afraid, _'How can we stop something that's come from someone's heart? Do we need to find senpai and help him beat this Shadow? But then what? Would he still be willing to accept what he denies? Someone. . . Please. . . Someone just tell me the answer!' _He shut his eyes, and waited for something, _anything _that could help him. He knew he couldn't use Osiris. And he had no idea how to use the weapon he found, _'Damnit. . . I'm too useless!'_

"_. . . Sheppard. . . Watch. . . Peace. . ."_

'_There's that voice again. . . Seriously, where have I heard this before?' _The brown-haired boy gripped the chain that held his hourglass. He heard a soft padding behind him, and he looked over his shoulder, eyes widening when he saw a head of snowy-blonde hair.

"Heru?"

"Hi, Aniki!" Smiling brightly, Heru gave a wave, his stuffed falcon held close, "How do you like this place so far? Isn't it pretty?"

"Not. . . Not really. . ." Whispered Shiro, shock still shown on him, his senses now concerned and very worried, since he knew that Heru was probably too young to have a Persona or something to protect him. Though that still led him to wonder how the child had managed to get to this floor on his own.

"_**Don't ignore me. . . LOOK AT ME, GODDAMNIT! SEE ME AND SEE WHAT I CAN DO! That's it! NO MORE! I CAN'T TAKE NO MORE!" **_The fames erupted more and more and the painter spilled the black paint all over the snake and roaring as it's body morphed into a hideous dragon with purple and black spines, green smoke seething from it's nostrils, _**"Prepare for Hell, you little rodents!"**_

"His power. . . It's going to go berserk!" Yelled Takato.

The dragon's hideous form lugged to and fro in agony, as if something sinister was controlling it. It's blood-colored eyes laid on Shiro, the green smoke swirling in its jaws and nostrils, flaring with an acid-green fire. Bellowing angrily, it took charge and leap to the unsuspecting student.

"Shiro, look out, behind you!" screamed Sarah, her warning far too late as the boy turned and barely managed to shield his arms over himself, his eyes shutting and his lungs ready to give out with a cry of fright.

"AHHHHH!"

He could feel the dragon's breath brush around him, the heat causing him to sweat with condensation fogging his glasses. Yet there wasn't a searing pain on any part of his body, nor did he feel disoriented from a great impact. A weight a bit heavier than his own fell over him and Shiro could barely manage a squawk of surprise as he tumbled over, his arms coming around something, his right hand meeting with a sticky and warm substance.

"Sh-Shit. . . You're. . . You're such a. . . a goddamn pain in the ass. . .!"

Heterochromatic eyes snapping open, Shiro stared at the owner of that ragged voice, squeaks of disbelief squeezing out of his diaphragm as Ryuuji's body was leaned over him, the elder's body racking with coughs. Shiro felt something gather and stain the cuffs of his shirt and he raised one of his hands, eyes widening and nose filling with the wet-iron smell of blood, the red liquid drying on his hands and shirt. His hands lowered to where they were, his stiff body barely able to register Ryuuji's shaking form.

"Ry. . . Ryuuji. . . San?" He questioned fearfully, hoping he wasn't seeing what he though he saw. A cold hand gripped the shoulder of his vest and Ryuuji himself gave a shallow breath.

"You gonna. . . Cry?" He rasped, holding back any sounds of pain from the deep gashes on small of his back. He was doing his best to smirk, whether to show he could handle the pain, or to show Shiro that he was alright, he wasn't sure, "Cry over me? Heh, that's a . . . first, ain't it?" He gave a laugh, the sound turning into a grunt of pain as the heat of the area stung his wound. He felt a hand on his neck, and all thoughts of teasing the younger boy were out of his mind, his head being pushed back, his eyes meeting Shiro's. He gave a dry gulp.

Shiro _was _crying. Tears were gathering in his eyes and trailing down his cheeks, the different colors of those eyes held glistening with confusion and remorse.

". . ._Why_?" Shiro whispered, Ryuuji shocked out of his mind. Never in his life did he believe that someone would cry over him. And Shiro, his newest prey to tease, was the last person he expected to do such an action. Something in his gut turned, and he wanted to stop those tears. He had no idea why.

Ryuuji bowed his head forward, his grey-haired head resting on Shiro's shoulder, his raspy breathing now in slow pants. His vision was turning against him yet he still wanted to be able to look Shiro in the eye.

"How the. . . How the fuck should I know?" He growled, suddenly angry with himself. Why did he jump in the dragon's way and protect the newest member? "My body. . . It. . . I just moved on its own," He grasped the collar of Shiro's shirt, looking at the boy with a demanding look, "Listen, Take_baka_. . . You have to. . . You have to awaken your Persona. I don't know what shit you pulled at the Full-Moon operation, B-But. . ." The corners of his eyes were blackening, heat flashes causing him to breath more deeply, "You-You have to. . . Fuck, summon him!. . . If you d-don't. . ." His head fell on Shiro's shoulder, eyelids drooping, trying to resist comatose, "You can. . . You can do it. I. . . I know you. . . C-can. . ." His entire body fell forward, gasping weakly and laying still.

"Ry-Ryuuji-san?" Shiro shook him once, getting no response, "Ryuuji-san. . . Ryuuji-san!" Crying out the older's name, Shiro shook and shook him, trying to wake him up, the younger's fear only spiking as he felt no pulse under the pale skin, "No. . . no. . ." A shuddering weep left his lips and he threw his head back, shaking and crying.

N. . . NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD! HE JUST CAN'T!"

Crying until no other tears were left, Shiro held Ryuuji's form to him, sobbing and begging for the silverette to be brought back to life. The others could hear what had happened. They knew they had to get to Shiro and calm him down. But Seymour's Shadow was blacking them, its snake twisting and coiling its body in anyway it could to keep the Persona-users at bay.

Shiro felt a hand touch his shoulder, and his blotchy face looked up to meet Heru, the child looking at him with a blank expression.

"He's not dead."

"W-What?"

"He's not dead," Sitting down and turning Ryuuji onto his back, the little boy patted his silver head, "His Persona's been knocked out. Because of the connection lost between them, his life source has just been placed in a temporal comatose," He took Shiro's hands, easily helping him back to his feet, Shiro surprised by his strength., "He told you to summon your Persona. Aniki, this is the only was you can save your friends and protect the person, whose heart is hearting right now," With a small smile, Heru gave a light nod, "You can do it, Aniki. I know you can."

Shiro stared at the mysterious child, disbelief evident in his puffy eyes. He then looked at Ryuuji, then to his still fighting friends, and finally to his hands, his fingers aground the staff of his scythe. He took in a breath, looping his weapon through his belt loop. He grabbed his evoker, taking a few steps to the battle before stopping. He spoke in a tenor that was laced with dominance.

"Look after Ryuuji-san."

Knowing that Heru was nodding, Shiro took his last steps forward, stopping and looking up at the floating Shadow, the hallow eyes of its mask staring at him, not making him flinch.

"I'm not afraid of you," Shiro's uneasy fingers suddenly stilling, "I might be a little confused. I might be a little worried. Hell, I want to wish that all of this is a dream. But. . ." He looked up, mis-colored eyes both turning into a platinum-silver.

"I'm _not _afraid of you."

"_**Fuckin' bastard!" **_The Shadow screamed as its fires span around it, arches of its anger ranging and spanning around the graffiti room, _**"I'll make you EAT your words!"**_

"Good luck!" Snapped Shiro, aiming his gun in his hand with the other tucked into the breast pocket of his vest, almost close to his heart. His eyes sealed and his pulse shot through his system like a drum, his ears faintly hearing the waves of the Nile of Egypt. A cold breath gathered in his mouth and the odd mist of blue surrounded him, pale-brown hair flying like spider plant leaves.

"Per. . ."

His pointer finger released the trigger.

"So. . ."

The blue mist whipped wildly, a shadow looming over him.

". . ._Na_. . ."

Both a pair of crimson eyes and pair silver eyes snapped open in unison.

"_Persona_!" The blue mist formed into savage flames, untying Shiro's long hair and ruffling his usually well-pressed yet loose clothing. A crack of glass shattered into the fabric of the air and Shiro could hear Osiris through his mind, looking through Egypt's God of the Deceased.

"_I am thou. . . _

_And thou art I. . . _

_From the sea of thy soul, I come. . . _

_I am thou who has sacrificed for those who were sacrificed. _

_My silence is my gold, thy truth be my victory. . . _

_I am the Lord of Silence. . . _

_Osiris. . ."_

The man that Shiro had seen nights before stood before him, his jackal-headed scepter gripped in his right hand. Both master and Persona looked at each other, Osiris' monstrous eyes daring Shiro to utter a word. Giving off a demanding glare, Shiro cast his hand forward, his voice low yet fiery.

"Get the snake." He growled, Osiris snapping to attention and teleporting to the beast, his staff igniting with blazing fire. Throwing his arm back, Osiris dueled with the snake, the reptilian beast countering with its tail as its sword. Shiro could actually feel the powerful blow of the tail, almost knocking him off balance as he walked to the Shadow.

Heru was swaying on his feet, murmming faint words that only Shiro could hear.

"_~Resting by the valley,_

_The little lamb will sleep,_

_The shepherd's kept his watch on him,_

_He knows that lamb holds peace.~"_

Shiro paused and looked up at the Shadow again, knowing that _someone _was glaring at him from behind those hallow eyes.

"_~The wolves, with snapping jaws of blood, _

_They want the lamb with hungry lust. _

_Meat they want, but truly more. _

_Wool to tear, and bones to crush.~"_

"What can I do to stop it?" Shiro asked himself. He considered trying to put out the flames but he knew that was most likely impossible. His hand went reflexively to his evoker, his mind _screaming _and his conscious now knowing what to do.

Taking aim, Shiro shut one eye as he pointed the barrel of the gun at the Shadow.

"_~Flying by with a pecking beak, _

_The woodpecker with sugar-coated tweets, _

_He wants to help the little lamb, _

_Whatever reason, lies beneath the sand.~"_

"Lock and load. . ." Taking in a breath, Shiro fired, "Awaken and release!"

The undetectable bullet of awakening flew through the air and struck the Shadow directly at its chest, something that looked like a green fog. The mass of energy landed and the floor, crumpling and forming into the shape of a human. Shiro walked over to it, his eyes widening at the site of familiar brown hair.

"Senpai!" Shiro ran over and helped the older student sit up, the latter groaning and cracking open one of his grey eyes.

"_~Come shepherds, come kings, _

_For this begins anew, _

_You want to help the lamb as well, _

_You know that this is the truth.~"_

"S-Shiro-san? What the. . . Just what's going on? Where are we? The last thing I heard were the things that. . . That _thing _said. . ." His voice was at lost, his body shivering since he still wore his hospital gown.

"Senpai, that thing came from what you hold within you. it's a part of you." Said Shiro carefully. Seymour looked at him oddly, suddenly shaking his head, shutting his eyes.

"That's a lie! Th-There's not way that could be me! I've never wanted attention!" He shouted, the sound of the black fires roaring in their ears, the Shadows trembling and twitching in the air.

"Takeba-san, you got to talk to him. Convince him, do anything to make him see the truth!" Takato yelled this over the flames.

"No, I can't do that!" Yelled Shiro, jumping as the fames nearly caught him on fire. He quickly shoved Seymour out of the way, making sure he wouldn't be caught in the flames. He felt a pain in his shoulder, catching Osiris having its frame wrapped in the snake's tail. He let out a hiss of pain as he felt the telepathic pain within him.

"Shiro-san!" Everyone watched as the boy flew in mid-air, his rams and legs being crushed like Osiris'. Seymour felt his throat go dry.

'_What can I do?'_

He blinked, his hand fisted around the handle of something. He raised his hand into his vision, eyes enlarging at the silver gleam of a M1911 pistol.

"I. . . Where'd this. . ." He was at a lost for words, his heart suddenly knocking in his ribs. He could feel an ice cold feeling run down his spine, and his breath suddenly came in sort pants. His eyes foggily looked to his Shadow, the being that stood for all that he was. His foggy vision suddenly turning the whole room turn black. It was only him, and his Shadow. Faintly, he could hear a child's voice murmur a hymn. Shaking that feeling away, he walked over to the Shadow.

"Please, calm down," He whispered, sighing as the person in beggar's clothing was floating to the ground. It's shoulders were twitching and it looked pitiful in its clothing.

"_**You don't understand," **_It muttered in a twisted voice, sadness wavering in its words, _**"No one does. They see why I do these things. They don't see why I do whatever I can to be seen. No one. . . No one. . ."**_

"You're wrong," The foreigner made it in front the painter, taking the canvas and paintbrush in its hands and putting them down. Carefully and genteelly, he placed his hands around the artist's mask, "And I know this, because. . ." He pulled away the mask, smiling softly, "You're me."

Every feature was that of his own, only tears were sliding down the doppelganger's cheeks. Seymour patted its face, giving a friendly smile.

"Hey, none of that, alright?" Chuckling, the real Seymour patted the Shadows short hair, "You were only upset. Actually, you were letting out what I've always denied. Yeah, I always helped people without giving thought about what would happen in the end. But the point of it all was never to be acknowledge or to have someone tell me, "Hey, good job." It felt like it was for a bit, but now you showed me that I was wrong." Grinning confidently, the brunette picked up the lone paint brush, the hairs at the end of it glowing. With a vision in mind, he began to paint over his Shadow's features.

"I want to make others happy. I never wanted to see anyone become sad or lost because they couldn't do something they wanted to accomplish. I wanted to help them, to allow them to do whatever they could to help. I've been doing that ever since I was a kid. And whenever a person was happy, I was happy then, too. And it was because of you who made me realize this," His strokes were forming long sea-foam-green tendrils, spilling over the young man's shoulders. His brush speckled over the hide of a terrifying sea monster wrapped around a sculpted body, the tail of the monster forming a silver belt while the monster's head resting on the man's shoulder. He added sandals with feathered wings, golden chains around the man's wrists, a white tunic, and a silver shield on the man's left hand. He painted a reed of turquoise gems around the man's long hair and he finally designed the man's soft brown eyes, "You are me. . . And I am you. . . Perseus."

The once-Shadow gave a kind smile, his new appearance glowing with blue mist. The area around them was once again to where they once were and Seymour now looked ready. With a grin, he called out his true power.

"Persona! Come forth, Perseus!"

A rush of energy made his knees knock together as Perseus took ran at the speed of sound, murmuring something only the newest Persona-user could hear.

"_I am thou. . . _

_And thou art I. . . _

_From the sea of thy soul, I come. . ._

_I, who leads thee to the truth. . ._

_Who's heart holds the bonds of others. . ._

_I am the Vigilant of Companionship. . ._

_Perseus. . ._

"Perseus! Paralyze!" Called Seymour, his eyes glowing brightly with his Persona's as the titan spun into the air and throw his shield at the snake. Like a Frisbee did the shield spin to the snake's face. The monster looked at its reflection, giving a quiet hiss before freezing up, its tail releasing Osiris. Shiro gasped and he dropped to the ground, wheezing and gain his composer back. He could hear Heru's voice, though he had no idea where the child went.

"_~Run, oh lamb! Run, oh lamb!_

_Freedom is not but a fantasy!_

_There beyond your valley,_

_Is something more than destiny!~"_

_*Shiro-san! Laurent-san! The Shadow is ready to be defeated. Perform a combo attack, quickly!* _Yelled Yukino through the mind link, the two boys looking at each other briefly. The both of them nodded and they whipped their evokers at themselves, narrowing their eyes great bursts of power ignited from the seas of their souls.

"Persona! Foolish-Fortune-Combo!" Flames and howling winds twined against the two, their Persons glowing the combined power, the two "masks" dashing forward and raising their weapons, bring them down and striking the snake with burns and wind scars snaring its scaled skin.

The snake cried wildly, giving its last breath weakly before it fell to the ground, disappearing till it was only the black ashes of remains, those remains blown away in an instant. The two boys collapsed together suddenly, the two of them being caught just in time before they hit the floor.

"Whoa. . . Did they just do that?" asked Sarah, trying to hold her tall senpai, Seymour laying like a used stuffed animal.

"Well, we all saw them so they must be." said Shuma, himself trying to hold up Shiro.

_*It was still incredible!* _They could hear the smile in Yukino's voice, _*Not only did senpai awaken his Persona, and the fact that Shiro learned to control his own, but I also managed to find and bring back Sarah-san's team! They're here with us in on the first floor right now.*_

"Whew, that's a relief." Sighed Sarah.

_*Mitsuru-sensei says its OK for you guys to come back now. Mission complete!*_

With all of them tiredly agreeing, they did what they could to pick up the knocked out Shiro, Seymour, and Ryuuji and walked to the transporter that would take them back.

From a little way, Heru peeked behind a wall, giggling and hugging his stuffed falcon, hymning the last words.

"_~Out run the wolves, find your friends. . ._

_Protect, cherish, love them. . ._

_Escape your fate, defeat life's iron hand. . .~"_

His eyes drooped sadly on Shiro's form.

"_~Go on, live on, little lamb. . .~"_

**T0 B3 C0NT1NUD3D**

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_**. . . I'm tired. I've been at this for four days straight and I haven't been having much sleep. But eh, don't worry about me! *Waves hand* I can deal with it! The important thing is that I got this work out to you guys! I really do want this story to be a hit and I really want to see it through! I promise that the next chapter will reveal what had happened after the rescue mission and more characters will be introduced.**_

_**Well, as you know, please read and review. I hope I hear from ya guys!**_

* * *

_**Now, it's time to find out what's gonna go on next! **_

**Shiro: Next time, on Live Today, Die Forever:**

"Huh, what's this room about?"

* * *

"_Huh, I should have expected this, coming from you two. . . Why?"_

"_Because you are our friend. We could never kill you."_

"_Please, don't think that lowly of us."_

* * *

"I-I'm sor-"

"I don't want an apology. And quit looking like you're gonna cry. . . It makes me feel. . . Bad. . ."

* * *

"You look half-dead."

"I feel half-dead."

* * *

"You look oddly familiar."

* * *

"Nani? Have I've met you somewhere?"

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**Shiro: Coming up, Episode Four: Time of Tarots**

"Master Shiro, I present you with the information of Social Links. . ."

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**Hope you liked this! **

**This is me saying, Peace!**


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